Gold deposit rates take nosedive
Gold deposit rates take nosedive
Gold deposit rates in the banking system have sharply tumbled since early last week, with most banks setting gold certificate rates at less than 1% annually and a scant number of smaller ones quoting the rates at 2% a year.
Saigon Commercial Bank, one of the institutions offering high rates for gold depositors, at up to 4.6% per annum at certain times, lowered the rates to 2.2% for terms of six to nine months and around 2% for other terms.
A staff member of Nam A Commercial Bank said the bank had mobilized gold at an annual rate of up to 4% but now it revised the rate down to 1.8% for tenors of one to three months and to about 2% for other longer ones.
At Asia Commercial Bank, the highest gold mobilization rate is only 0.9% a year for an 11-month term compared to the 2% recorded last month. Similarly, gold deposit rates at Viet A Bank and Eximbank mainly range from 0.6% to 0.9% per annum while other lenders shorten the longest term of gold deposits to nine months only.
According to a banker, those local banks suffering a liquidity shortfall before had to push up rates to attract gold depositors and they then used gold as collateral to borrow money from the inter-bank market. The current improved liquidity in the banking system plus the central bank’s rules forbidding gold mobilization from November 25 has prompted banks to scale down gold mobilization.
The central bank on Tuesday issued a document which urged lenders to stop gold mobilization and lending activities from November 25 in line with Circular 12/2012/TT-NHNN and Directive 05/CT-NHNN. The central bank noted that lenders are allowed to issue short-term gold certificates to secure enough gold for repayment to depositors.
The Saigon Times
