Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, Le Minh Hung, advised people and enterprises not to rush to sell malformed gold bars for less than their worth.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, Le Minh Hung, advised people and enterprises not to rush to sell malformed gold bars for less than  their worth.

Since August 13, the Saigon Jewelry Company Limited (SJC) has been declining to buy back SJC-branded gold bars due to their limited financial capacity. This has worried many people who have bought them, particularly at the time when domestic gold prices reached VND42.5 million (USD2,000) per tael, the highest level over the past two moths.

Mrs. Thu Trang, from Dong Da District in Hanoi, took two taels of SJC gold to a gold shop to sell them, but they refused, saying that the bars were misshaped. In the end she was forced to sell them at lower price.

It is not only SJC gold bars that get lower prices for slight malformations, but other brands as well.

According to Deputy Governor Le Minh Hung, the State Bank of Vietnam is fast tracking new regulations on SJC-brand gold bar production as well as their business practices. The new regulations would include stipulations on the sales of malformed bars and the changing of other brands to SJC.

Under the regulations, all deformed gold, whether from SJC or other brands which can meet quality standards, could be changed to SJC gold, Hung said. He added that people should not be hasty in selling badly formed gold bars for lower prices.

"SJC" has no monopoly

Regarding the public's concern about the monopoly of SJC in trading, production and purchase of gold, the official said that under Decree/2012/ND-CP, in effect since May 25, the State Bank of Vietnam is responsible for managing all activities of gold bar production, so all companies, including SJC, are required to stop production of gold bars.

“SJC has non monopoly over the production of gold bars, so the public should not be concerned. After May 25, SJC, along with the producers are not allowed to produce them, only to trade in bars produced in line with the law," he said.

Source: Dtinews