Vietnam Manages to Bludgeon Popular Gold Use Into Submission

``The central bank's bullion rules combined with price swings in the gold market are starting to affect people's attitude toward the metal, particularly in larger transactions such as property deals, said Nguyen Van Doanh, 39, a real estate broker in Hanoi since 2005. "In the past, gold prices were pretty stable, everything with a large value such as houses, land, cars were priced in gold," Doanh said. "Given the changes in gold prices, together with the government restrictions in gold-bar trading, it's no longer safe and convenient to use."''