Most banks' gold accounts to close

June 15, 2013 | 08:41

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Most banks have closed their gold accounts to meet the State Bank of Vietnam's deadline of June 30 this year.

The SBV said that only five or six banks still had outstanding gold accounts to date, adding that the banks would be pushed and even ‘forced' to close all gold accounts by the end of this month to meet the deadline.

According to the SBV, gold deposits fell by 75 percent in the first five months of this year, while gold loans decreased by 40 percent.

Deputy Director of the central bank branch in HCM City Nguyen Hoang Minh said that gold auctions had helped banks to cut their outstanding gold deposits.

The central bank on June 13 sold 25,900 taels of gold out of 26,000 on offer at its 30th auction.

At the auction, gold bars were sold to eight banks and gold firms from 40.63 million to 40.58 million VND per tael, slightly less than at previous auctions, according to the SBV.

In the previous auction three days earlier, the central bank sold the same volume at 40.66-40.63 million VND per tael.

Year to date, the SBV has organised 30 auctions for 848,000 gold taels, of which it has sold 761,600 taels or 27.3 tonnes. Industry insiders said that most of the gold had been bought by banks to close all their accounts before the June 30 deadline.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Gold Trader Association Nguyen Thanh Truc expected the gold premium to gradually narrow starting from June 30, thanks to lower domestic demand.

VNA

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