11 entities seek licenses to manufacture gold bars

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said it has received 11 dossiers seeking authorization to manufacture gold bars.

At a press briefing on the afternoon of April 14, Dao Xuan Tuan, Director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department, said the SBV screens applications for licensing to manufacture gold bars strictly. The SBV is reviewing the submissions and will announce the units eligible to receive licenses.

Licensing to expand supply and narrow price gaps

According to Mr. Tuan, approving additional units to manufacture gold bars is intended to increase supply, help stabilize the market, and narrow the gap between domestic gold prices and global prices.

Under Decree 232 amending Decree 24 on management of gold trading activities, the monopoly mechanism for gold bars has been removed. The SBV will assign import and production rights of gold bars to certain banks and eligible enterprises.

Eligibility requirements for manufacturers

Enterprises seeking licenses to manufacture gold bars must have charter capital of at least 1,000 billion dong, while banks must have charter capital of 50,000 billion dong.

These units must be on the list of banks and enterprises licensed by the SBV to conduct gold trading, and must not have penalties or must have remedied any violations.

Mr. Tuan said there are currently 38 enterprises and banks licensed to trade gold bars. Based on charter capital, leading enterprises have charter capital of 1,000 billion dong or more, including PNJ, DOJI and SJC.

Banks with charter capital above 50,000 billion dong include Vietcombank, VietinBank, Agribank, BIDV, VPBank, Techcombank, MB, ACB and HDBank.

SBV credit outlook and monetary policy stance

At the same briefing, Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha said that by the end of March, total system credit outstanding reached over 19.18 quadrillion dong, up more than 3% from the end of last year.

For this year, the SBV targets credit growth of around 15%. The target may be adjusted depending on developments to curb inflation, support growth, and ensure system safety.

Mr. Ha said credit demand for production and consumption is tending to rise, while funding mobilization may face competition from other investment channels such as real estate and stocks, creating additional pressure on the banking system.

In this context, the deputy governor said the SBV will continue to actively and flexibly manage monetary policy, in coordination with fiscal policy.

The SBV said it closely monitors deposit and lending rates and is ready to support liquidity when needed. It also implements exchange rate policy flexibly in line with market conditions to contribute to stability in the foreign exchange market.