Bullion demand to fall 22-25% this year

Bullion demand to fall 22-25% this year

Viet Nam's demand for goods will likely fall by 22-25 per cent this year as the Government tightens its grip on the bullion market to stabilise the country's currency, according to a source from Sai Gon Tiep Thi newspaper.

Viet Nam's consumer gold demand, including gold jewelery and bullion last year, dropped to 77 tonnes from 100.8 tonnes, a year-on-year decrease of 24 per cent, after the Government moved to curb gold speculation that had contributed to the dong volatility, according to a a report from metals consultancy GFMS, as quoted in a Reuters news source.

Gold demand is made based on scrap supply and an inflow of gold unofficially pumped into the country.

To date, Viet Nam still ranks fourth in the Asian region in gold consumption after India, China and Thailand. People in Viet Nam tend to store gold as a hedge against inflation, once among the highest in Asia. The Vietnamese dong currency is often pressured by the accumulation of US dollars for use in smuggling the metal, given the absence of official imports.

To date, there are no accurate figures about the amount of gold traded on the Vietnamese market each day or each month. The figures of gold traded at SJC and PNJ companies cannot represent the entire market.

After the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, the public's trend to buy gold bullion for storage remains, thus increasing gold demand sharply. As a result, about 1,000 taels of gold are traded each day at the SJC and PNJ companies, of which sold gold accounted for 60 to 70 per cent.

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