The domestic gold price on July 27 hit a record 40.5 million VND (1,966 USD) per tael (one tael is equivalent to 1.2 ounces) due to skyrocketing global prices.

The world spot gold price hit 1,625.70 USD per ounce on the London Bullion Market, which was higher than the previous record of 1624.07 USD on July 25.

Most domestic gold shops tightened gaps between selling and buying prices.

Phu Quy Group's gold shop on Tran Nhan Tong Street in Hanoi on July 27 morning posted its buying and selling prices at 39.98 million VND and 40.09 million VND per tael, respectively.

Sacombank listed its prices at 39.99 million VND and 40.5 million VND at 5pm on July 27.

An official from the Vietnam Agribank Gold Corporation JSC told Vietnam News that the new gold price record on the international market was caused by a looming US debt default as well as China 's efforts to buy more the precious metals.

He forecast that the world gold price might fall slightly on July 29, when the US Congress is set to decide whether to raise the debt ceiling or not. However, he added that a decline in the gold price next week would be only temporary.

Tran Thanh Long, a shop assistant at Phu Quy Group, said that though the domestic gold price had hit an all-time peak, people had not sold much gold.

He said that in the past few weeks, individual investors had sold a lot of gold they had held in order to deposit cash into banks to take advantage of high deposit interest rates.

"At the moment, several bigger investors are waiting for higher prices, so they may sell in the weeks to come," he said.

Nguyen Thi Trinh, an individual investor who bought 20 taels of gold on July 27 at Phu Quy shop, said she expected gold prices to increase to 43 million VND per tael next week.

Since the beginning of the month, the domestic gold price has risen by 2.4 million VND per tael.

However, due to a stable exchange rate for the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar during the past months, the domestic gold price was now lower than the world price by about 250,000 VND per tael.

On the forex market, the exchange rate for the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar stayed unchanged on July 27 at 20,560 VND (buying) and 20,610 VND (selling) per dollar.

On the same day, the central bank posted a stable inter-bank forex rate of 20,608 VND per dollar for the 15 consecutive days.

Luu Quang Dien, director of the SJC Hanoi, forecast that gold prices might reach 1,700 USD per ounce in the world market due to debt woes in the EU and the US , with investors flocking to the safe haven of gold. /.