PM demands strengthened gold market management

Hanoi – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to keep a close watch on international and domestic gold prices, and put in place measures and tools in a timely and effective way to regulate the gold market in line with regulations.

The move is to ensure that the market operates in a stable, healthy, transparent, and efficient manner, and prevent the "goldisation" phenomenon in the national economy, the leader said while chairing a recent meeting on solutions to manage the gold market in the coming time, the Government Office said in a notice.

Chinh emphasised the need to put the interests of the nation and its people above all in market management; and to encourage the production and export of jewelry gold products to create jobs for labourers.

He urged the implementation of measures and tools to manage and regulate the supply for both gold bullion and gold jewelry production, in order to ensure that market activities and transactions are managed and controlled tightly without affecting the exchange rate or foreign exchange reserves, and to prevent speculation, manipulation, or price hikes.

The PM also underlined the need to speed up the IT application and digital transformation in the management work, noting the compulsory issuing of e-invoices for gold transactions isto improve transparency.

The SBV, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Government Inspectorate, and other relevant agencies were asked to continue to seriously perform their tasks of monitoring, inspecting, supervising, and dealing with law violations such as cross-border gold smuggling, profiteering, speculation, manipulation, and taking advantage of policy loopholes to hoard gold and drive up prices, causing instability and jeopardising the safety of the gold market.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has signed to issue an official dispatch asking for measures to strengthen the management of the domestic gold market.

The State Bank of Vietnam is set to update regulations in response to market changes and global uncertainties affecting gold demand and prices.

Gold rallied to a fresh record above $2,200 on Thursday as traders welcomed a Federal Reserve signal that it would cut interest rates three times this year.

Vietnamese authorities have identified issues and will close regulatory loopholes to stabilise the gold market, according to Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank).