Government proposes 3 billion USD of international bond issuances

The Government has proposed international bond issuances worth 3 billion USD, to restructure domestic debts arising during 2015-2016.

The bonds were expected to have terms of 10 to 30 years, with interest rates to be set depending on international capital market conditions at the time of issuance.

Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung told a National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee meeting on October 12 that he would be authorised by the Government to present the issue at the upcoming NA sessions, for permission to implement it from 2017.

Dung said that, while funds that the Government borrowed to compensate for national budget overspending remained limited, the amount of State bonds maturing during 2015-2016 was estimated to be significant, at roughly 363.17 trillion VND (16.14 billion USD).

In the first nine months of this year alone, State bond issuances totalled nearly 127.50 trillion VND (5.67 billion USD), or around half of the annual quota, while up to 160.70 trillion VND (7.14 billion USD) in government debts was due.

Dung said international bond issuances were necessary as "other domestic funding sources had been mobilised at maximum", while Vietnam no longer enjoyed financial assistance from the World Bank's International Development Association.

The Government has mentioned this issue several times this year, after the country successfully issued bonds worth 1 billion USD in the international market through the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, or Vietcombank, last year.

Dung affirmed that the possible additional issuances worth 3 billion USD would still guarantee that foreign debts account for no more than half of the total government debts, in accordance with the country's strategy to manage public debts until 2020, with vision until 2030.

The Government also expected such issuances would help domestic banks ease the pressure on their foreign currency sources, and maintain low interest rates to support local enterprises.

The issuances would also provide the country with more foreign currency supplies and help it improve the balance of payment, rationalise the rates of exchange and stabilise macro-economic conditions.

However, any additional issuances now would face obstacles related to the legal framework.

The new law on the State budget allows the government to issue international bonds to cover budget overspending. It has been issued this year but will only take effect in more than a year from now, in 2017.

The law on public debt management does not permit the country to borrow foreign currencies to restructure debts in dong. The Ministry of Finance said it would propose revisions for this shortcoming.

Earlier this month, the State Bank of Vietnam lent the ministry 30 trillion VND (1.33 billion USD) to help ease tension related to State budget overspending.

The ministry's latest report said the State budget overspending had reached some 27.54 trillion VND (1.22 billion USD) in September, driving the cumulative overspending for the first nine months of this year up to 140.97 trillion VND (6.27 billion USD).-VNA