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| People can now use the gold-keeping service in more banks.Photo Giaothongvantai.com |
HCM CITY (Biz Hub) ― People can now ensure their gold is secure by leaving it with any one of 12 commercial banks for safekeeping, according to Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Viet Nam's HCM City branch.
The banks are Vietcombank, Vietinbank, BIDV, Agribank, Mekong Housing Bank, An Binh, Ban Viet, Bao Viet, Tien Phong, Lien Viet Post Bank, Asia Commercial Bank and the Military Bank.
The State Bank stipulates that from July 3, credit institutions can only keep gold for customers who have been licenced by the central bank.
However, the majority of the twelve banks do not have to ask for proof of an individuals licence as their own business licences already includes a safeguarding service, according to Minh.
The Asia Commercial Bank had stopped holding gold for customers on July 3, but resumed the service last week after getting the go-ahead from the central bank.
Many other banks, including Sacombank, Eximbank and Viet A Bank, are currently asking for permission to offer a similar service, said Minh.
A leading unnamed State Bank official told Thoi bao Kinh te Sai gon (Sai gon Economic Times) that many banks had been operating a holding service for gold but some could have been using the gold for other purposes, so the central bank will have a difficult task managing this issue.
Minh said that inspections of gold services at banks, which began on June 30, were still underway and are expected to be completed by early August.
This Wednesday the State Bank held its 46th gold auction this year, offloading 25,900 taels of gold for VND38.65-38.72 million (US$1,840-1,843) per tael.
However, the price of gold on the world market at the time was roughly VND34.40 million ($1,638) per tael, almost 4.3 million lower than Viet Nam. — VNS