The gold market of Vietnam is back in the spotlight, with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh instructing the State Bank of Vietnam to craft a plan for mobilizing Vietnam’s vast gold reserves held in the name of the private sector. The declaration has caused an all-out discussion among the investors and among those who have gold bars in their possession, as they are perplexed about whether this policy would revamp the domestic gold market.
Physical gold has long been one of the types of assets most preferred to store in the Vietnamese family’s treasury. Throughout history, gold has kept its buying power in periods of inflation, currency fluctuations and economic uncertainty. The government’s most recent push is to move these mop Ha Long gold reserves into the formal financial system, but it, too, raises new concerns about whether gold still makes the most sense as a financial strategy in 2026.
Why Is the Government Targeting Private Gold Reserves?
It is believed that Vietnamese households have many hundreds tons of physical gold in their home safes, private vaults and family accumulation collections. These assets allow for the retention of wealth, but they do not directly stimulate the economy. The new government instruction will try to turn this “trust fund in paper” into assets that are productive, can offer support to businesses’ loan facilities, improve the liquidity and financial stability for businesses.
Instead of letting gold sit unused in people’s hands, policy makers would like to see the people use it in regulated financial systems. While it is not yet announced what the final mechanism will be, what it has been discussed is the potential of defining investment instruments such as gold deposit programs, gold-backed financial products or any other tool that will help the households preserve value while helping the development of the economy in general.
What Could This Mean for SJC Gold Prices?
SJC gold has typically shown a vast margin movement in favor of the international gold price for decades, since Vietnam’s gold market is very controlled by Decree 24. The SBV manages imports of bullion and domestic gold production, and thus the total amount has been limited, which has helped to keep premiums on SJC products high.
Domestic supply could begin to grow in the future if the reforms prove successful in bringing more private reserves into the market. As a result of increased availability, over time, the gap between the price of SJC gold and worldwide gold benchmarks could become smaller. But whatever tweaks may then take place will likely be gradual, not sudden drops, because changing policy will likely be incremental and well-controlled.
It should be noted, however, that prices for gold are determined by several factors other than domestic policies, such as the level of global inflation, the policies of central banks, geopolitical changes and dynamics of the US dollar.
Opportunity Cost of Holding Physical Gold
Investors have to consider one of the primary costs in investing in physical gold is what financial return they could have gained by investing somewhere else. Strategies for regular income aren’t exclusive to investing in gold. Unlike other savings or investment accounts, it doesn’t offer interest payments, dividends, or cash flow as it remains stored.
The fact that the Vietnam economy is still growing, and the domestic banking system provides competitive savings products has some investors re-evaluating the best use of large cash sums, which is to keep them in physical gold. VND investors receive regular interest payouts on their savings accounts, but the gold buyer/saver has no guarantee of any interest earnings other than the appreciation of the gold’s price in the future.
This is not to say that there is no longer any value in gold. In times of inflation and currency devaluation, as well as financial uncertainty, physical gold provides a valuable protection. The main difference is that investors need to take into account the foreseeable gains they may receive from other monetary devices and the prices of preserving wealth over the long run.
Should You Sell Your SJC Gold Bars Now?
At this time there is no one standard reply for this question. The government’s call will not compel people to sell their gold and the government has not a word to say about any compulsory measures in respect of those gold holdings.
Investors who bought gold with the goal of holding it for the long term may want to consider maintaining a diversified portfolio of investments. But investors with significant gold holdings might want to consider their investment returns and the associated concentration risk of their portfolios by considering a partial move into some other investments that would provide better returns.
Investors must follow official announcements from SBV, instead of following rumors or speculations in the market before making any decision. Further information on future policy and its potential impact on the domestic market and on the investor will be shown in the detail of the policy to come.
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