State bank moves to accumulate privately-held gold

January 31, 2012 | 18:59

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The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will submit a plan to the Government to mobilise gold from individual people who hold an estimated at 300-500 tonnes.

The State Bank of Vietnam will submit a plan to the Government to mobilise gold from individual people who hold an estimated at 300-500 tonnes

This was revealed by Nguyen Van Binh, Governor of SBV, during an interview, which was posted on the SBV website on January 30.

According to the plan, credit institutions will act as agents to accumulate gold for the central bank. The Government will not directly intervene in the market, but through these institutions as intermediaries.

In order to help curb speculation, the Government issued Decree 95, which levies fines for illegal foreign currency and gold transactions. This, it is hoped, will help stabilise the gold market.

According to Binh, the SBV is taking measures to improve liquidity in banks, with the goal of lowering interest rates this year.

Binh referred to the International Monetary Fund’s assessment, saying that if the country continues its monetary policies begun in 2011, inflation will be able to be brought down to 8-8.5 per cent this year. He added that it will also help to reduce deposit interest rates to around 10 per cent.

The SBV will also continue measures to stabilise exchange rates, Binh said, emphasising that without any unforeseen external shocks, the domestic currency should only lose a maximum 3 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2012.

SBV, dtinews

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