According to Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, a financial economist , it is estimated that there are currently about 400 - 500 tons of gold being hoarded by the people and not being put into the economy. This is a waste. People need to change their habits of buying and hoarding gold, converting gold to other investment tools that are beneficial to themselves and the economy.
IllustrationGold hoarding - the benefits outweigh the harms
There are currently no complete statistics on the amount of gold stored by the people. However, according to estimates by the Vietnam Gold Trading Association, this number could be up to 500 tons of gold. If 50% of this gold can be mobilized, at least more than 10 billion USD will be put into the economy.
According to experts, if this amount of gold is in a bank safe, it can be used as a national reserve, ensuring the value of the currency. The government can also use gold as a guarantee to borrow money from international financial institutions. Therefore, people hoarding gold without trading it is a waste.
Many economic experts believe that hoarding gold is a "hard-to-break habit" of Vietnamese people, because gold is still considered a safe asset. However, the benefits are two or three times greater than the limitations.
Economist Pham Quoc Khanh raised the issue: “If you store gold at home and do not preserve it carefully, you may lose it, not to mention the risks of price fluctuations. Instead of storing it, people should think of other effective investments, such as converting it into money or investing in other areas.”
Mr. Pham Quoc Khanh analyzed: “Gold has important value, it is a convertible asset in any economy, including market and non-market. Therefore, in other countries, including major economic powers such as the US or China, they exploit gold to convert into other assets, serving the investment and development of the economy. However, in Vietnam, assets in the form of gold exist in large numbers among the people and cannot be mobilized. This wastes resources in using gold as a tool to convert to other investment tools.
Consistent policy against "goldenization" of the economy
Some economic experts analyze: Gold is not included in the basket of goods and services used to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI), but the sharp increase in gold prices will impact the economy. The sharp increase in domestic gold prices will certainly cause speculation, gold smuggling and the impact on the exchange rate, which is inevitable.
Another obvious consequence is that every time the price of gold increases, psychologically, because of the worry that the Vietnamese Dong (VND) will lose value, people will try to buy gold at all costs, instead of depositing money in banks or buying goods and services to stimulate economic growth. More or less, people will also price goods according to the price of gold and the prices of goods may increase accordingly. The increase in the price of gold leads to an increase in the value of real estate, making the already sluggish real estate market even more sluggish...
Not only narrowing the price gap, not allowing the economy to be “goldenized”, not allowing negative impacts on exchange rates, interest rates, the monetary and foreign exchange markets, and national monetary safety and security” is also one of the key tasks in the Prime Minister ’s direction on strengthening measures to manage the gold market.
Recently, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has sold gold directly to four state-owned commercial banks and SJC Gold and Gemstone Company Limited so that these units can sell gold directly to people and recently launched sales through Vietcombank's online channel.
“The goal is to soon narrow the gap between domestic and international gold prices to a suitable and sustainable level. The new approach has quickly cooled the gold price from the peak of VND92.4 million/tael set on May 12 to now only around VND74.98 - 76.98 million/tael (buy - sell),” said a representative of the State Bank.
In addition, the State Bank also coordinates with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Government Inspectorate to inspect the implementation of policies and laws in gold trading activities of credit institutions and enterprises and will resolutely and strictly handle violations of the law (if any).
Recently, to manage the gold market, many experts have proposed taxing gold transactions. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Mui, member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, proposed: The State Bank should soon recommend the Ministry of Finance to develop tax policies for gold.
According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Mui, the application of tax policies to the domestic gold market will help reduce the demand for gold of some investors and the market, especially for those who buy gold for the purpose of speculation, hoarding, and manipulating gold prices. The above solution can also affect the psychology of consumers, causing them to switch to other investment channels, thereby helping to control gold prices.
Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu warned: The gold market is really unpredictable, so you need to be very careful when buying gold and monitor the market regularly. The high difference between buying and selling prices can lead to risks for investors when they face the risk of losing money if they buy gold in the short term in the context of a volatile gold market.
Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/kinh-te/lang-phi-khi-vang-ngu-dong-can-thay-doi-thoi-quen-tich-tru/20240614095514842
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