Vietnam central bank to sell gold to domestic market through 4 state-owned banks

HANOI: Vietnam’s central bank will sell gold to the domestic market through four state-owned banks starting on Monday to help narrow the gap between domestic and international prices, the central bank said.

The move is a change in the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)‘s efforts to manage gold prices, Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dung told the central bank’s Thoi Bao Ngan Hang newspaper.

“The gap between domestic and international prices will be narrowed sustainably,” Dung said.

Dung said the price of gold to be sold to the four banks, which were not named, would be determined by the central bank, based on international prices, according to the report.

The SBV has held several gold auctions since late April to increase gold supplies, but Dung said domestic prices remained 20% higher than international prices.

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The central bank sold 48,500 taels of gold (around 1.8 metric tons), just half of the gold it offered at the auctions.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. It said last weekend that it would halt the auctions.