Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the Standing Government meeting on gold market management – Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac
Concluding the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pointed out some issues that have arisen in the gold market recently, including the gap between domestic and international gold prices, manipulative actions by some gold businesses, hoarding and price gouging, persistent gold smuggling, and management shortcomings, including instances of lax oversight that are inconsistent with the market economy, reality, and developments.
Moving forward, the Prime Minister emphasized the goal of effectively managing the gold market to contribute to macroeconomic stability, inflation control, and growth stimulation. He also stressed the importance of policies to mobilize gold resources from the people for socio-economic development, preventing market manipulation and gold smuggling.
As an immediate solution, the Prime Minister instructed the State Bank of Vietnam to strengthen state management, quickly narrow the gap between domestic and international gold prices to around 1-2%, and address the issue of excessive price differences, which have exceeded 10% recently. This can be achieved by increasing supply through the involvement of multiple enterprises and reducing demand. He also emphasized the need for tighter control, enhanced inspection and supervision, and strict handling of gold smuggling and manipulative behaviors that disrupt the market.
The Prime Minister called for the amendment of Decree 24/2012/ND-CP on gold trading in a simplified manner, to be completed by June 2025, along with the development of a gold market database, also by June 2025.
For the long term, the Prime Minister assigned the State Bank, the Ministry of Finance, and relevant agencies to continue improving the business environment, making it safer, more favorable, healthier, and more attractive for people to actively engage in production, business, and entrepreneurship instead of gold hoarding. He also suggested studying the formation of a gold exchange where people can freely trade gold, separating state management from gold production and business activities, promoting gold jewelry manufacturing to create more jobs, enhancing information and communication efforts to alleviate the psychology of gold hoarding among the people, and researching and investing in a system to generate electronic invoices from gold business cash registers.
The Golden Opportunity: “Vietnam Explores the Creation of a Gold Exchange, Offering Citizens Freedom to Trade”
The aforementioned initiative is expected to address the long-standing prominent issues in the gold market.
Reviewing Gold Sales Invoicing
The Regional Tax Department has issued a directive to focus on scrutinizing the issuance of invoices for the sale of goods by enterprises in select sectors, with a particular emphasis on the gold and silver industries.
“Gold Bar Buying and Selling: Clear Signage for Easy Identification”
The authorized shops and bank branches dealing in gold bullion trading must display a signboard with the information “Licensed Location for Gold Bullion Trading” to ensure easy recognition by the public.
The Great Gold Rush: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Speculative ‘Price Inflation’
The domestic gold price is currently trading at a premium of over 16 million VND per tael compared to international prices, returning to levels seen before the State Bank intervened in the gold market in 2024. The State Bank attributed the surge in domestic gold prices to various factors, including speculation and price manipulation by certain businesses and individuals taking advantage of market volatility.
Why Has SJC Company Temporarily Halted the Purchase of One Tael Gold Bars?
“SJC Company is temporarily halting the purchase of certain types of SJC gold bars. Specifically, the company is no longer accepting purchases of bent or deformed SJC gold bars, as well as SJC gold bars with only one word imprinted on them.”
