For many months now, buying SJC gold bars and plain gold rings in Hanoi has been largely a matter of luck. Many stores have stopped selling, or are selling these two types of gold in very small quantities, at irregular hours, making it difficult for even those with money to buy.
According to Lao Dong reporters at DOJI Cau Giay branch (Hanoi), a sales staff member said that for many months, this facility has had no gold bars to sell.
At some Bao Tin Minh Chau stores in Cau Giay (Hanoi), as soon as the car stopped, the staff asked customers whether they wanted to buy or sell gold. If they wanted to buy gold bars, the store said they were out of stock. If customers wanted to buy gold rings, they had to wait for the hour to get a queue number. It is worth noting that this time is not fixed, so many people often miss out and cannot buy.
There are many reasons for the shortage of gold in the country. Experts say that to completely resolve the above situation and help the gold market develop stably and healthily, the authorities must implement many synchronous solutions. Among them, it is necessary to urgently amend Decree 24 and issue gold certificates.
Associate Professor Dr. Ngo Tri Long - former Director of the Institute of Price Market Research (Ministry of Finance) commented that the management agency must amend Decree 24. "Because Decree 24 currently has many shortcomings, there are points that are not in accordance with market rules, not in accordance with international practices" - Mr. Long emphasized.
This expert commented that Decree 24 mainly talks about physical gold including gold bars, jewelry gold and raw gold, not about gold accounts or gold certificates, or in other words, "paper gold".
“Paper gold” is gold purchased on account, traded through a gold exchange, and not physical gold. However, there is currently no gold exchange in Vietnam. Therefore, in amending Decree 24, it is necessary to consider opening a gold exchange to create a centralized, transparent market.
Talking to Lao Dong reporter, Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu - economic expert said that in order to stabilize the gold market in terms of price and supply and demand, there are two important things to do in amending Decree 24. First, it is necessary to eliminate the monopoly of the national gold brand SJC. Second, the State Bank should withdraw its role as the sole gold importer, assigning the responsibility of gold import to reputable gold traders with financial capacity. From there, regulate the gold market.
According to Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, the habit of keeping gold and trading physical gold in Vietnam has become outdated, while currently there are conditions to buy gold and trade gold through the stock market. However, in Vietnam there is still no company or bank that issues gold certificates.
"Solving the problem of people investing in gold is a big problem, but that problem cannot be solved by tightening the gold market. Such tightening will only cause psychological pressure. The more people feel the need to have gold, the more they wait to buy.
Thus, the gold fever can only be solved if the gold market is more open. Then there are measures such as issuing gold certificates, securitizing gold, creating more attractive investment channels; at the same time, still respecting people's right to own gold but letting people understand that owning gold is not beneficial to the economy" - Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu emphasized.
Sharing the same view, Dr. Can Van Luc - an economic expert also said that it is necessary to amend Decree 24 soon. In particular, the important solution is to allow an increase in the supply of gold to suit the needs of people and families in Vietnam, by allowing a number of qualified businesses and criteria to meet the conditions to be able to import gold into Vietnam. In addition, it is necessary to eliminate the exclusive national brand SJC, because this brand is not much different from other brands, but the price difference compared to other brands is quite high.
