Vietnam’s Central Bank Plans New Gold Regulations

Vietnam's economy is facing hard times and the communist government is desperately seeking ways to solve the crisis affecting the country. In the past two years the Vietnamese central bank has taken a series of measures aimed at avoiding further capital flight from the country. Measures taken by the government thus far include greater controls on the gold market. According to estimates there are 300 to 500 tonnes of privately held gold in Vietnam. Nguyen van Binh, governor of the Vietnamese central bank, stated in an interview that he wants “to mobilise gold from the public in service of the socio-economic development.”

The State Bank of Vietnam is keeping a close eye on developments at the national gold market. In order to control the flight from the dong and the outflow of capital from the country, last year the central bank set limits on gold trading and significantly reduced the number of licensed refiners officially allowed to produce gold bars. From November 2011 onwards all companies wishing to continue their operations had to hold a minimum of 500 billion dong in funds and a market share of 25%. These requirements have forced many smaller producers out of business.

In an interview published at the end of January on the State Bank of Vietnam's website, governor Nguyen Van Binh states that the right to private ownership of gold will be upheld, but that the Bank is looking at ways of "mobilising" privately held gold. An increasing number of market observers have been long worrying that Vietnam might be heading towards total prohibition of private gold ownership. Price rises are causing more and more Vietnamese to buy gold as a hedge against inflation. Data published this morning by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam show that in February the Vietnamese Consumer Price Index increased another 1.37% in comparison with the previous month. In comparison with December 2011 this amounts to a 2.37% increase. Almost all sub-sectors registered price increases.

So far, as a direct result of the government's attempts at limiting the national gold trade, gold prices at the black market have continued to increase in relation to the official price fix and the external value of the dong. Recently the country's banks raised the interest on gold deposits. Analysts take this as an evidence that the central bank is trying to control the gold circulating in Vietnam through commercial banks.