Government eyes corporate bond-to-GDP ratio of 20 pct by 2025

By Anh Minh April 13, 2022 | 12:27 am PT

An employee counts Vietnamese banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

The government wants to increase the size of the corporate bond market from last year’s 11.5 percent of GDP to at least 20 percent by 2025.

It also wants to achieve a total bond-to-GDP (including government, municipal and corporate bonds) ratio of 47 percent, and the stock market capitalization-to-GDP ratio of 85 percent by that year, a resolution it issued on April 12 said.

Bonds are considered to be an effective channel for corporations to raise funding, and issuances were totally worth some VND682 trillion last year.

But some companies have allegedly indulged in dubious practices, like real estate developer Tan Hoang Minh, for instance. Its VND10-trillion bond issuances were canceled for submitting false information.

The crackdown on the company and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s statement on tightening oversight of the bond, property and stock markets point to the government’s determination to reform the markets.

It also instructed the Ministry of Finance to come up with proposals for encouraging venture capital and diversifying financial institutions.

It has also set a target of having 1.5 million companies in the country by 2025, 45 percent of them being medium or large sized.