At 2 p.m. an Agribank branch in HCMC’s District 1 saw dozens of customers queuing in the basement to await their turn to buy.
The bank, along with Vietcombank, VietinBank and BIDV, bought gold from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) at VND78.98 million ($3,107.00) per tael and sold it at no more than VND79.98 million to retail customers, 1.2% lower than market prices.
This is the latest effort of the SBV to narrow the gap between domestic and global gold prices.
Pham Thi Giau in Go Vap District arrived at Agribank at around 1 p.m. but she was still waiting at 3 p.m. due to the large number of customers.
“I buy gold as an asset,” the 41-year-old said.
Vo Kim Vang, 20, was among the first customers.
“I bought one tael and plan to keep it for a long time because I think this is a stable price.” A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.
Employees encourage customers to make bank transfers to pay for gold purchases to save time. Banks also offer to keep gold bars at current prices for customers who want to pick them up later.
At a Vietcombank office at 3.15 p.m., around 50 customers were waiting for their turn, some for an hour.
Only around 10 customers were able to buy gold in the first hour.
Employees told some customers to return the next day due to the long queue.
In Hanoi 40 people waited one hour before the afternoon opening time at a Vietcombank branch. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Tuan
