SBV plans to import 30 tons of gold in 2013

The central bank said it expects to sell around 20 tons of gold to meet the demand of local banks and put aside US$1.5 billion from foreign exchange reserves to import gold.

Gold demand was 50 tons but domestic gold volume sharply dropped for the past two years while the Government banned gold imports.

Earlier, the SBV had imported material gold for the past seven weeks to produce gold bars for auction.

Since March, the central bank has organized 23 gold bullion auctions to narrow the gap between supply and demand on the local market. The central bank sold 580,200 taels (approximately 22.3 tons) out of 640,000 taels offered./.  

By Khanh Phuong