The proposal was raised after the recent meeting of the National Financial Monetary Policy Advisory Council which agreed that the State monopoly on gold bar production should be abolished, and production licences should be granted to qualified enterprises.

At the Government’s monthly meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính asked for efforts to stabilise the foreign exchange market and gold market, and to gradually narrow the gap between domestic and international gold prices.

The association’s deputy chairman Huỳnh Trung Khánh said that gold import will help increase supply and lower prices in the domestic market to narrow the gap with international prices.

With the targeted import value of around $100 million per year in total, very modest compared to other industries, the impacts on exchange rates will not be significant, he said.

With regard to Government Decree 24/2012 on managing gold business, which has been proved to be outdated, the State Bank of Vietnam proposed the State monopoly on gold bar manufacturing be abolished while licences to be granted to qualified companies rather than only one.

The existing State monopoly on gold bar production, with SJC the sole maker of SJC-branded bullion and the Vietnamese general preference of stocking gold, cause imbalance of supply and demand in the domestic market, resulting in the huge price gap with world prices.

At some points, the price gap was up to VNĐ20 million a tael.

SJC gold bullion prices have seen significant fluctuations since the end of last year, even setting a record of VNĐ82 million per tael in March.

Financial expert Nguyễn Trí Hiếu said that the removal of the monopoly on SJC bullion might reduce domestic gold prices by several million Vietnamese đồng per tael.

To loosen the gold market, it is necessary to abolish the monopoly of SJC bullion, the monopoly on gold import and gold bar production, and open the door for some enterprises to import gold, expert Cấn Văn Lực said.

PNJ, SJC and DOJI are the three largest out of more than 5,900 gold businesses in Việt Nam.

In 2023, PNJ reported a profit worth more than VNĐ33 trillion and an after-tax profit of VNĐ1.97 trillion, up by 8.9 per cent.

SJC reported a revenue of more than VNĐ27 trillion in 2022, up 53 per cent and also the highest revenue in 2013-22 period. However, its after-tax profit was modest at VNĐ48 billion.

DOJI reported a profit of more than VNĐ1 trillion in 2022, 4.3 times higher than 2021. The company also earned a profit of nearly VNĐ154 billion in the first half of 2023. — VNS