Two more banks get nod to sell gold deposits
By Thanh Thuong - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC - Southern Bank and Viet A Bank were expected to get permission from the central bank on Tuesday to sell gold deposits, days after five other banks had successfully performed the mandate to cool down the gold fever.
As such seven lenders along with the bullion trader Saigon Jewelry Holding Co. (SJC) would be authorized to sell gold with an aim to stabilize the market.
A bank executive revealed that the seven banks held a large amount of gold, as much as 80% of all local banks’ total gold stock. Nonetheless, the selling number of 10 tons of gold by the seven banks is just a modest figure compared to more than 100 tons of gold mobilized at domestic credit institutions.
It is believed that these lenders, having large stocks of gold and experience of trading bullion as well as strictly adhering to the banking industry’s regulations, have been chosen by the central bank as gold sellers for now.
Meanwhile, other banks which have attracted gold from depositors are still not allowed to trade with others. This means they have to wait for the next orders from the central bank to see how they could use the gold deposits and whether they could sell gold or make use of it to ensure their assets’ balance.
Many lenders that are not allowed to sell gold deposits have been found to further raise gold deposit interest rates, seeing an annual rate rise to 2.2% for over one-month term deposits at Vietnam Tin Nghia Commercial Bank and other banks.
The move is aimed at improving Vietnam dong liquidity as numerous depositors have rushed to withdraw money from their current accounts since the middle of last month, said some unofficial sources.
The price of gold has recently been on the downtrend with SJC selling the bullion at a high of VND43.9 million per tael, up around VND600,000 per tael against Monday afternoon.
The differential between local and world gold prices is still modest, hovering around VND400,000, which is much lower than the previous week.