Vietnam, where gold price is much higher than rest of the world, is taking all initiatives to ensure good supply of the precious yellow metal. Last week, the Vietnamese government allowed businesses to re-start importing gold. The country had banned gold import some months back.

According to a report from VietNamNet Bridge, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) governor, Nguyen Van Giau, has signed a decision to allow businesses to re-import gold.

The report said the decision was issued when the domestic gold price is much higher than the rest of the world. It hit a peak on July 7 with the domestic price was VND700,000 per tael higher than the world price.

The big difference prompted traders import gold illegally, leading to a rise in the price of dollars on free market from VND18,890 to 19,200.

Mr Giau said that recently many companies have asked the SBV to allow importing gold, for example SJC wants to import 5 tonnes and PNJ wants to import 2 tonnes.

The price of SJC gold rose from VND28.23 million per tael on July 9 to VND28.27 million on July 10.

On the same day, the buying and selling prices at some jewelry shops in Ho Chi Minh City were VND28.28 million and VND28.32 million per tael, respectively.

The transaction market at the weekend seems slower than previous days.

On the free market, the price of US dollar went up after snapping a two-day losing streak. It increased to VND19,180-19,200 per dollar in Ho Chi Minh City and VND19,160-19,180 per dollar in Hanoi.

Meanwhile, the price of dollars at banks has not changed for the past two days. The selling prices at Eximbank and ACB were VND19,100 per dollar while at Vietcombank it was VND19,095. The buying price at all three banks was VND19,080 per dollar.

Gold Price