Vietnam PM orders central bank to better manage domestic gold price

HANOI: Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Thursday (Dec 28) ordered the central bank to tackle soaring local gold prices that he said have had a negative impact on monetary markets and market sentiment in the past few weeks.

The price of gold in Vietnam has skyrocketed this month, reaching a peak of 80 million dong (US$3,292.86) per ounce on Tuesday, and has gained nearly 20% since the beginning of the year. It was trading at $2,085 as of 0437 GMT on Thursday.

"The global and domestic gold markets have been moving in a complicated manner, with domestic gold prices increasing rapidly, which have negatively impacted monetary market social sentiment," the Prime Minister said in the instruction.

"The State Bank has to have healthy, effective solutions to stabilise the market," he added.

The gap in gold prices between Vietnam and the global market has reached nearly 20 million per tael.

People in Vietnam traditionally hold gold as a hedge against inflation. - Reuters