HANOI, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's gold demand was estimated to reach 12 tons of jewelry, bars and coins in the third quarter of this year, surging 264 percent year-on-year, local media reported on Thursday.
The demand was buoyed by continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, local newspaper Vietnam News cited a recent report by the World Gold Council as reporting.
The sizable increase was largely due to the comparison with a very weak third quarter of 2021. Nevertheless, the Vietnamese recovery had been particularly robust with healthy GDP growth, incomes boosted by reversed salary cuts and companies returning to full employment, all of which boosted demand, the report said.
"Investment demand across Southeast Asian markets was robust on the back of concerns about inflation, local currency depreciations against the U.S. dollar and the sustainability of medium-term economic growth," the report wrote.
According to the report, the global gold demand excluding over-the-counter was 28 percent higher in the third quarter year-on-year at 1,181 tons, driven by stronger consumer and central bank buying which helped year-to-date demand recover to pre-COVID-19 norms. ■
