Under a licence from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), 4 State-owned commercial banks and the Saigon Gems and Gold One Member Co Ltd (SJC) started  to sell SJC-brand gold bar to the public from 2.30pm of June 3.

SJC-brand gold bars for sale to the public are directly purchased by the commercial banks and the SJC from the SBV.

The Agribank, Vietcombank, Vietinbank and BIDV and the SJC will decide and publicize the selling prices on their websites and at transaction points, basing on the buying prices set by the SBV.

The SBV started to sell SJC-brand gold bars for the four banks and the SJC at VND78.98 million ($3,108) per tael, on June 3.

The four banks noted that they will only sell SJC-branded gold bars to individual customers but will not buy those gold bars back from the latter. However, customers can trade in the SJC-branded bullion with the SJC.

The banks were scheduled to initiate the sale of SJC gold bars to individual customers at 16 designated sale points in Hanoi and HCM City from 2:30 pm on June 3. And from on June 4, the gold-selling operations will begin at 9:00 am.

Meanwhile, the SJC will both sell and buy gold bars at 21 designated points in 11 provinces and cities, including Hanoi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Ha Long, Nha Trang, Hue, Quang Ngai, Bien Hoa, Can Tho, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau.

Earlier, the SBV said the four banks and the SJC are solely permitted to purchase SJC gold bars from the central bank to sell to the public as part of measures to stabilize the market.

The SBV said it will continue to follow the roadmap to narrow the difference between the domestic price of SJC gold bars and the world price.

On June 3, the selling price of the SJC-branded gold bars fell to VND81 million ($3,161) per tael, while the buying rate down to VND79 million ($3,083) per tael.

At this level, gold prices in Vietnam are around VND10-11 million ($392-432) a tael higher than world prices, significantly lower than a gap of VND20 million ($785) at a peak recorded earlier this month.