Covid-19 has seriously affected the real estate market. Even gold, considered a safe shelter in crisis, has also been bartered away.

Cash or deposits

Well-experienced investors believe that cash is king in crisis, but keeping cash in coffers is a bad option.

Therefore, depositing money at banks is the choice of many investors in this period, especially those who don’t have deep knowledge about financial investments.

However, investors are advised to consider many different investment channels and avoid ‘putting all eggs into the same basket’.

Gold

Experts say investors should target investment channels with high liquidity such as savings accounts, gold and dollars, and wait patiently for opportunities with stocks.

Director of Vietcombank Fund Management (VCBF) Nguyen Thi Hang Nga said gold has high liquidity in the context of economic uncertainties.

However, gold prices depend on tmm supply and demand, so it is difficult to define the ‘real value’ of gold, and is risky for investors who choose the wrong time to buy.

Phan Dung Khanh from Maybank Kim Eng Vietnam said the gold price began increasing in 2018, not just now during Covid-19. The precious metal witnessed investors selling last week because of panic. However, Khanh believes the gold price will increase in long term.

In fact, big cash flows from central banks and large international financial institutions are going to gold.

As Covid-19 has had an impact on economies, governments have to pump money into circulation and apply loosened policies. Some governments are considering delivering money and coupons to people.

However, thid will bring side effects: total government and household debts will grow and banks will have to buy gold.

He said investors would be better to invest in gold for more than one year and avoid surfing investments because there is a big gap between domestic and the world prices when the market fluctuates heavily.

Nguyen Tri Hieu, a finance expert, said that, except for stock and real estate markets, which are fluctuating too heavily, investors can consider depositing money at banks, investing in gold and US dollars.

US dollars

Khanh said the dollar price upward trend has been seen over the last 10 years and the price has doubled in comparison with 2010.

He said one should not expect to benefit much from holding dollars compared to depositing in Vietnam dong. In general, depositing dong at banks or holding dollars (or other hard currencies such as Japanese yen or Swiss franc) in the medium and short term (less than two years) have the same profitability and safety levels.

Nga also thinks investing in dollars is relatively safe, though it is not a good idea for high profits.

Thanh Mai

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