These banks include Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank), and Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).

Simultaneously, SBV will co-ordinate efforts with relevant ministries and branches to tighten inspections of gold trading activities and will move to strictly handle any violations of the law.

Pham Quang Dung, deputy governor of the SBV, said the move aims to stabilise the market under the directive of the Government and the Prime Minister whilst swiftly narrowing the gap between domestic and world gold prices in a sustainable manner.

These banks affirm that they will meet all people's needs to buy SJC gold with the selling price being unified among the four banks and conducted in a public manner.

Those looking to make a purchase are required to bring their citizen identification card or personal papers, then follow the instructions at the transaction counter. After agreeing on the quantity, price, and meeting the requirements, they will then receive their gold to take home.

Commercial banks will base purchase prices on information from the SBV and the minimum cost in order to determine the selling price for people, said Le Ngoc Lam, general director of BIDV, adding that the bank has identified this as a political task to stabilise the domestic gold market and will not set a profit target in gold trading activities.

Regarding the decision to stop gold bullion auctions, many experts believe that this is the right step for the management agency to take as a means of preventing speculation and manipulation of the gold market.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh, an economic expert, said that the gold auction has served to narrow the gap between domestic and international gold, from between VND18 million and VND19 million to between VND16 million and VND17 million per tael, but this gap remains large.

In this context, administrative measures have been extremely urgently taken in a bid to ensure transparency and prevent price manipulation.

Along with taking administrative measures, monetary tools such as interest rates also play an important role in preventing asset bubbles, including gold.

Narrowing the gap in gold prices is a challenging task in the context of the global gold price fluctuations, said Nguyen Thi Hong, governor of the SBV, noting that turbulence in the gold market might result from speculative actions, hoarding, and price pushing.

Transactions through four state-owned commercial banks will help to clearly determine the real supply and demand of the market through identifying each buyer and issuing 100% electronic invoices, she stressed. 

Amid the SBV and state agencies striving to narrow the gold price gap and VND mobilisation interest rates, experts assess that the gold price bubble will certainly decrease.

However, experts have advised people to remain prudent when buying gold at this time to avoid losses. If there is a real need, people can go to four major banks to trade gold to assure the quality and to indirectly help the State make the gold market transparent and stable.

VOV