Vietnam’s bond market under discussion

The size of the corporate bond market will exceed the capitalization of the stock market in the future, but participants need to harmonize the interests of parties for the market to develop sustainably, Mr. Nguyen Quang Thuan, CEO of FiinRatings and FiinGroup, told its “Corporate bonds: Balancing return and risk” conference on November 18.

According to a report from FiinRatings, credit for corporate bonds accounts for about 12 per cent of outstanding loans and about 15 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP. In the first nine months of this year, the bond market’s total issuance value rose 29 per cent year-on-year to VND431 trillion ($19.05 billion).

The real estate industry holds the largest proportion of issuance value, accounting for 40 per cent and reaching VND172 trillion ($7.6 billion). Interest rates on real estate bonds were up to 10.4 per cent per annum in the first nine months; higher than rates on banks deposits, which are only 6-7 per cent.

However, Mr. Thuan noted that there are some shortcomings in the real estate market, making State managers, including the Ministry of Finance, the State Securities Commission of Vietnam, and the Ministry of Construction, issue warnings, and investors cannot help but be concerned.
The financial health of the 24 real estate issuers is quite divergent. Though their debt repayment capacity and risk level differ, they share the same interest rate. Investors may face certain hidden risks from issuers with poor financial capacity.

“Though financial health is not a concern, there is a huge gap between the issuers of real estate bonds in Vietnam, especially unlisted companies,” according to FiinRatings.