Very hard to buy
Posing as a person in need of buying plain round gold rings and SJC gold bars, on October 25, the reporter visited several stores of major gold brands in Hanoi such as Bao Tin Minh Chau, PNJ, DOJI... Most of the stores were not open for sale at the time of the survey. "Currently, all types of gold jewelry are still trading normally. But today the store ran out of SJC gold bars and plain round gold rings" - an employee of Bao Tin Minh Chau Cau Giay branch (Hanoi) said.
Wanting to buy gold to celebrate a relative's wedding, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen (Nam Tu Liem - Hanoi) said that she is planning to switch to giving money as a gift because she cannot buy a gold ring: "Next week I have a wedding for a brother in my family so I plan to buy 1 tael of gold ring as a gift. But for the past two days I have not been able to find it. When I asked the store when it would be available, they said they did not know."
Why do many people hunt to buy gold rings despite record high prices?
90 million VND/tael is the record high price of plain round gold rings ever. However, many people still spend time lining up and find ways to buy.
This issue can be viewed from several perspectives. The first is the people's psychology of hoarding and owning gold. For a long time, gold has always been a popular jewelry product. Relatives give gold when they get married, children give gold when they celebrate their first month, and even relatives can bring a few taels of gold to help build a house. In addition, the reality shows that the price of gold always tends to increase, there is no luck or risk of devaluation, so it attracts a large amount of idle money.
In the context of low interest rates and relatively sparse investment channels, it is understandable that many people are turning to gold. In fact, looking back at the past half year, gold buyers have earned a huge profit, much higher than savings. For example, a person who bought a 9999 Hung Thinh Vuong round gold ring at DOJI 6 months ago (April 25) at 75.5 million VND/tael (buy in - sell out) and sold it on October 25 at 88 million VND/tael will earn a profit of up to 12.5 million VND.
On the same day, April 25, with the amount of 75.5 million VND, if that person deposits 6 months of savings at Agribank, they will receive an interest rate of 3%/year, equivalent to an interest rate of 1.1325 million VND. With the same amount and term, if that person deposits at a bank with a higher interest rate, for example NCB (5.2%/year), they will only receive 1.963 million VND in interest. Of course, the above comparison is lame when the strong increase in gold prices in the past 6 months can be described with the word "lightning fast". However, the reality is that the interest rate when buying gold is far surpassing the traditional savings channel.
The sharp increase in gold prices is fueling the fear of missing out mentality of many people. However, wanting to buy is one thing, being able to buy is another. Businesses are not selling, or selling in small quantities, creating scarcity in the market, making investors want to own gold even more.
Commenting on the current domestic gold market and the difficulties in gold trading, economic expert - Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu said that it is time for the management agency to reconsider the gold market stabilization program. Because, the target of domestic gold price narrowing with world gold price has now been achieved. While the price of SJC gold bars is increasing sharply following the world and the limited supply will stimulate the demand for buying and holding gold of the people more. While this is a reasonable and legal need of the people".
However, this expert emphasized that investing in gold is not beneficial to the economy: "Instead of money being used for production and business, it is used to buy gold and keep it in the house, not circulated, becoming a waste."
