Gold demand up 11% in Vietnam

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Consumer demand for gold in Vietnam amounted to 14tonnes in the second quarter of this year, posting a year-on-year rise of 11%.

The information was revealedon August 4 in the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends report for Q2.

Of the figure, gold bar and coin accounted for 9.6 tonnes, up 5%; andjewelry 4.5 tonnes, an increase of 28% compared with the previous year..

According to Andrew Naylor, Regional CEO, Asia-Pacific (excluding China) andPublic Policy of the World Gold Council,investors have turned to gold to hedge risks due to concerns about escalatinginflation and the weakening of the Vietnamese dong, adding that it reflects inthe record high premium for domestic gold investment.

The strong increase injewelry demand compared to the same period last year was attributed to adecline in the domestic gold price and the optimism of consumers in the contextof the global economic recovery, along with the stimulus package worth 15billion USD proposed by the Vietnamese Government.

Globally, demand for gold,excluding OTC markets, fell 8% year-on-year to 948 tonnes in the period,according to the report. However, thanks to strong exchange-traded funds (ETF)inflows in the first quarter, gold demand in the first half of 2022 was still up12% year-on-year to 2,189 tonnes.

Regarding gold prices, afteran initial rally in April on geopolitical risks and rising inflationarypressures, gold prices tumbled in the second quarter of this year as investorsturned their focus to rising interest rates and the surge of the US dollar. The6% drop in gold prices in the quarter hit gold ETFs, which saw outflows of 39tonnes. Net capital inflows for the first half of the year amounted to 234tonnes, compared to 127 tonnes in the first half of last year.

However, the decline in thesecond quarter could create a more gloomy atmosphere for ETFs in the secondhalf of the year, as inflation cools down and interest rates continue torise./.

VNA