More than VND 100,000 billion (US$690 million) worth of corporate bonds were issued in the third quarter of 2023, Doanh Nhan Saigon is reporting. This is almost triple the value of bonds issued in the second quarter which suggests the bond market may be recovering. The article, however, does note that the number of businesses behind on their bond debt obligations totaled 69 as of October 3, with a collective VND 176.1 trillion (US$$7.2 billion) in outstanding bonds or 18 percent of all outstanding bonds in Vietnam.
The bond market froze up earlier this year after a couple of high-profile arrests related to fraud in the issuance of corporate bonds. The numbers above suggest the bond market may be starting to turn around, however, it’s worth noting that reforms made to ensure the same challenges the market experienced earlier this year didn’t happen again, were all put on hold for fear the bond market would ice over even more. Therefore, this growth is under circumstances that have been acknowledged to be problematic and it raises questions about the quality of these most recent bond issuances.