Vietnam’s corporate bond issuances increased in April by 29.1 percent over March, with VND 13.94 trillion or US$547.8 million. This has brought the total bond issuances since the start of the year to VND 36,088 billion or US$1.42 billion. (Note that state media has reported these figures as trillions of dong rather than billions, however, this would put corporate bond issuance this year at over US$1.4 trillion or about three-and-a-half times Vietnam’s GDP).
This is another positive sign for corporate bond issuances after a slow start to the year–there were just VND 5.96 trillion or US$242 million of corporate bonds issued in the first two months of 2024.
March, however, recorded a significant uptick, with seven corporate bond issuances to the value of VND8,745 billion or US$343.6 million and, coupled with these latest April figures, this might suggest the market is regaining some momentum.
Vietnam’s bond market has come under intense scrutiny in the past year or two after it was revealed that bonds had been used for purposes other than for what investors had believed they would be. These revelations were followed by a number of high-profile arrests. Of note, Truong My Lan, chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat, was arrested for reportedly misappropriating US$12.5 billion.