Customers buy gold at Phú Quý Gold and Silver Company in Hà Nội. Gold is still a potential investment channel until the end of this year. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Gold remains a potential investment channel until the end of this year, though the global economy in general, and Việt Nam in particular, still possess potential risk factors related to recession and inflation, which make it difficult to forecast the gold price.

This statement was made by Shaokai Fan, Head of Asia-Pacific (ex-China) and Global Head of Central Banks of the World Gold Council (WGC), at a press conference on Wednesday to release the WGC’s latest gold consumer demand trend report for the first quarter of 2023.

The latest WGC gold demand trend report showed that in Việt Nam, gold demand decreased by 12 per cent from 19.6 tonnes in the first quarter of 2022 to only 17.2 tonnes in the first quarter of 2023.

Similarly, the demand for gold bullion and coins also experienced a decline of 10 per cent from 14 tonnes in the first quarter of 2022 to 12.6 tonnes in the first quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, jewellery demand fell by 18 per cent from 5.6 tonnes in the first quarter of 2022 to 4.6 tonnes in the first quarter of 2023.

Explaining the above trend, Shaokai Fan said that the increase in gold price affected the demand for buying gold jewellery and bullion in the Vietnamese market. In addition, the decline of the real estate market and concerns about inflation caused the demand to buy gold to decrease.

Louise Street, a senior market research specialist at the WGC, said that the complex movement of the gold market in Q1 2023 highlighted the diversity in gold demand and underpinned the role and efficiency of the asset. Against the backdrop of various economic and demand drivers in the world gold market, growth in some regions has offset declines in others. The commonality across major markets is investor interest in gold to protect its value in times of financial uncertainty.

Particularly in Việt Nam, Shaokai Fan said that gold demand in the first quarter of 2023 decreased compared to the same period last year, partly due to the strong growth of gold in the first quarter of 2022. However, Q1 2023 demand still showed a positive sign when compared to previous years.

Therefore, he said, when investing in gold, investors should not base their decisions only on gold price, but also need to consider many different factors, such as investment allocation ratio and investment portfolio, and investors certainly should not invest in just one type of commodity.