The corporate bond market will continue to face headwinds in the second half of the year, experts said.

A staggering VND147.3 trillion worth of corporate bonds will fall due in the second half of the year, with nearly half (over VND72 trillion) owed by real estate firms.

The Ministry of Finance on July 19 organised an inaugural ceremony for a separate corporate bond trading system on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

The operation of a separate corporate bond trading system is necessary to develop a transparent secondary market and increase liquidity for corporate bonds.

More than VND42 trillion ($1.77 billion) worth of corporate bonds were rolled over in the second quarter, providing issuers, mostly property...

Government bonds prospered again in the first five months of the year.

While real estate firms are still grappling with woes, including cash flow problems that have rendered them helpless to take back their bonds that are due, commercial banks have performed well.

Many local banks have bought back their bonds before maturity while others have launched new bond issues this month.

Bond issuers are grappling with the burden of heavy debt amidst unfavorable market conditions, leading them to further postpone coupon and principal payments.

After stagnating for half a year, the corporate bond market has shown signs of recovery following the implementation of Decree No 8, as the value and volume of issued bonds surged in March, said insiders.

Real estate firms and leading enterprises issued nearly one billion USD worth of corporate bonds within two weeks after the government released a decree, removing obstacles for enterprises.

A real estate firm has successfully raised funds by issuing VND4.7 trillion worth of corporate bonds. Just days before, another real estate firm also successfully issued VND2.3 trillion worth of bonds.

The proportion of corporate bonds to total assets of commercial banks is not too large but risks still exist, especially if banks hold bonds of weak real estate firms, according to Le Hong Khang from FiinRatings.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the nation’s central bank, is taking steps to tighten control on commercial banks’ acquisitions of corporate bonds.

Real estate businesses have issued nearly VND12 trillion worth of corporate bonds since Government Decree 08 came into effect on March 6.

To address issues of transparency and investor protection, the government has issued a new decree that introduces several key changes to the regulatory framework for corporate bonds in Vietnam.

The State Bank of Viet Nam has carried out surprise checks of 11 commercial banks to find out if they are in compliance with regulations governing bond purchases by lenders.

The Government has issued a decree on the amendment, supplementation and cancellation of some articles of decrees related to the private placement and trading of privately placed corporate bonds.

The newly introduced alternatives to a corporate bond decree are envisaged to lay a foundation for issuers to address their difficulties, relieve liquidity strains, and gradually restore investor confidence.

The volume of mature bonds of businesses will peak in the period of 2023 - 2024 and bond issuers are taking different actions to proactively remove difficulties.