People complain that it is increasingly difficult to buy gold.

On the afternoon of June 11, while queuing in front of a gold bar selling point on Hue Street (Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi), Ms. Nguyen L. said she had been waiting for many days but still had not been able to buy gold.

Ms. L. lined up and got a number on the first day the bank opened its gold sale (June 4). After the staff took her personal information, they informed her that when it was her turn, the bank would call her to come and complete the purchase procedures. However, after waiting for a whole week, she still did not see anyone, so on the afternoon of June 11, Ms. L. went to the place to ask.

After checking the information again, the bank staff wrote an appointment slip for the afternoon of June 13 inviting her to come back to complete the procedures and buy gold.

"I didn't expect it to be so difficult to buy gold bars now. I haven't been able to buy any for a whole week.", she complained.

It is worth mentioning that although Ms. L. has been scheduled to come and do the paperwork on June 13, it is not yet known whether she will be able to buy gold or not.“It depends on the actual situation and supply at that time. If there is no gold available, I will ask you to come back the next day.", an employee explained.

Also waiting for many days like Ms. L., Mr. Lap (Hai Ba Trung district) said:“My wife is doing the paperwork inside. She paid for the gold an hour ago but still hasn’t gotten the gold. We came to get a number and lined up since the morning of June 5th, and only today were we able to do the paperwork. We don’t know if we can get the gold today.”.

According to records, bank gold sales points usually issue numbers (about 100 numbers) to customers lining up in the morning. In the afternoon, they will not issue new numbers, but will spend all their time handling procedures and selling gold to customers who have already taken numbers.

But because of the large number of people coming to buy gold, the procedure to complete the purchase process for a customer takes a lot of time, so many people have to queue and wait for several days to do the procedure. Customers even have to wait a few more days after completing the procedure to buy gold.

Ms. Hoa (Ha Dong district, Hanoi) has been lining up to buy gold for 2 days now, regardless of rain or shine, but her turn has not come yet.

The day before, Ms. Hoa left at 6am, arrived at the bank at 7am and waited until 5pm but still could not buy gold. The next morning, it was raining heavily, Ms. Hoa was still determined to take the train to buy gold and waited in line behind hundreds of people.

Hearing the bank staff say that there was a high chance that people who came after 9am would not be able to buy gold because by that time it was almost sold out, Ms. Hoa felt discouraged but felt sorry for the effort so she couldn't bear to go home and tried to wait for luck.

Not only did they have to wait a long time, many people who went to buy gold at the bank said they gave up because of the complicated procedures.

Ms. Nguyen Thi G. (Long Bien district, Hanoi), came to a gold selling point of the bank at 3:00 p.m. on June 10.The bank guard said: If you have the ticket and are here to do the paperwork, please come in. If you are here to queue up to buy gold, please go home and come back tomorrow morning at 6am.", Ms. G. said.

Following these instructions, Ms. G. returned at 6 a.m. the next morning. But after lining up and getting her turn to buy gold, Ms. G. encountered a confusing request.

“They said that gold can only be purchased through an account at the correct bank, at the correct branch. Customers who do not have an account must open an account before they can continue with the procedure. Even if they have an account at this bank but at another branch, it is not possible.", she said.

At this point, Ms. G. left and decided not to continue lining up to buy gold here. Because Ms. G. was also told by many people that even if she had a bank account at the correct branch, she still had to wait a long time to complete the purchase procedure.

Because of her real need, Ms. G. had to go around to the stores on Tran Nhan Tong Street to buy gold. But many places announced that they were only buying and not selling because they were out of gold.

"I know that the price at the store is the same as the bank price, so I went to buy it quickly, but unexpectedly, all the big stores were out of gold, while I did not want to buy at small retail stores to ensure safety. It really took a long time but still could not buy gold. Banks need to think of other ways to sell and control customers, otherwise, many people with real needs will find it difficult to buy gold.", Ms. G. complained.

According to a gold expert, the reason people have to wait in line for a long time to buy gold is because the procedures take many steps and the bank needs a lot of time to process. The number of people coming to buy gold is increasing day by day, but the processing speed is slow, so the number of people having to wait longer and the time it takes is getting longer.

In addition, this expert predicted that the speed of gold bar casting and stamping by the State Bank may be slow, not meeting the high demand of the market. The total number of gold bar selling points of 4 commercial banks and SJC companies nationwide is very large while only the State Bank produces SJC gold bars, so the speed of gold bar production may not be able to meet the demand.

“However, the State Bank has affirmed that it has enough determination and resources to stabilize the market and control the difference between domestic and international gold prices at an appropriate level. Therefore, there will be no shortage of supply, and people do not need to rush to queue while gold selling points are overloaded.”, this person advised.

Previously, the State Bank denied rumors of a shortage of gold to sell, affirming that it has enough resources to stabilize the market and control the difference between domestic and world gold prices.

The State Bank also warned that at many gold selling points, there are people who hire people to queue up to buy gold with the aim of pushing up prices, taking advantage of the difference, causing market instability and causing damage to the economy.

The State Bank of Vietnam said it is coordinating with the police to verify and strictly handle acts of speculation and market manipulation. At the same time, the State Bank of Vietnam will also proactively deploy solutions to strongly combat the phenomenon of speculation and hoarding of goods.

The State Bank of Vietnam has sent a document requesting the Ministry of Public Security to direct relevant units to promptly coordinate in verifying and strictly handling acts of spreading false information, speculating, profiteering, and manipulating the gold market.

Directing localities to coordinate to ensure security at gold selling points of state-owned commercial banks and Saigon Jewelry Company Limited - SJC. Limiting the situation of bad-intentioned people hiring people to queue up to buy gold, causing disorder.