Government bonds reportedly rose in the market, while the yield sank to a nine-month low on March 18 when the central bank cut the interest rates of refinancing and deposits.

Speaking at a press conference on March 17, Nguyen Thi Hong, head of State Bank of Vietnam's monetary policy department, said that the major buyers of G-bonds were commercial banks which bought 78 trillion VND, or 3.7billion USD, of the 95 trillion VND, or 4.5 billion USD, bonds issued since early this year.

Hong added that low lending had pushed commercial banks to buy G-bonds.

According to SBV, Vietnam's credit growth as of March 13 was negative 1.05 percent against the end of 2013.

Meanwhile, according to Asiabondstoday.com, by March 17 the five-year yield in Vietnam fell 10 basis points, or 0.10 percentage point, to finish at 7.25 percent, the lowest level since June 6, 2013. The two-year and ten-year yields also fell, said the website.

The forex market stayed stable in most of the commercial banks. In Vietcombank, the US dollar was sold for 21,120 VND on March 18. The central bank still set its reference rate at 21,036 VND per US dollar, unchanged since June 28, 2013.-VNA