HCMC – The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has cancelled today’s gold auction of 16,800 taels due to the lack of bidders, marking the second cancellation out of three attempts.
The central bank set the reserve price for today’s auction at VND82.3 million per tael, up by VND1.6 million from the previous auction. Each tael corresponds to 37.5 grams or 1.2 troy ounces.
In the preceding auction on April 23, only two out of 11 participants bid for a total of 3,400 taels, leaving 13,400 taels unsold. This auction was originally planned for April 22 but cancelled because of insufficient registrations and deposits.
Economists have pointed out that reducing the minimum gold purchase requirements could attract more bidders. Currently, bidders must place a deposit equivalent to 10% of the bid amount and bid for between 14 lots (equivalent to 1,400 taels) and 20 lots (equivalent to 2,000 taels).
Huynh Trung Khanh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Gold Trading Association, suggested revising the minimum purchase condition to around 400-500 taels to encourage broader participation.
Economist Ngo Tri Long supported this proposal, stating that the current minimum bidding requirement of 1,400 taels is excessively high, limiting the involvement of smaller businesses, the Vietnam News Agency quoted him as saying.
Long said that the participation conditions heavily favor commercial banks, leaving small and medium-sized enterprises at a disadvantage.
