Due to a surging credit growth amid slow deposits, many banks have to raise capital in the bond market, causing bond interest rates to surge and putting significant pressure on profit margins of banks.
The draft decree no longer emphasises operational time or profitability requirements, but instead focuses on legality of project contracts, loan limits, payment guarantee mechanisms and credit ratings.
The corporate bond market continued its recovery in 2025 with issuance estimated to total VNĐ575.4 trillion (US$21.8 billion), up 11.3 per cent over 2024, according to the Việt Nam Bond Market Association.
During this period, bank bonds constituted 67.1 per cent of the total issuances, overshadowing the real estate sector, which accounted for only 20.8 per cent.
In the first two months of the year, government bond issuances through HNX auctions reached VNĐ45.11 trillion, fulfilling 41 per cent of the first-quarter target and 9 per cent of the annual plan for 2025.
Many banks have issued large amounts of bonds to raise thousands of billions of Vietnamese đồng, pushing interest rates to around 8 per cent per year, much higher than that of normal savings.
While real estate bond issuance value has recovered year-on-year, its proportion of total issuances has ped sharply - from nearly 55 per cent in the first half of 2023 to just 25 per cent in the first half of 2023.
Several companies associated with property developer Vạn Thịnh Phát, whose chairwoman is currently facing trial for financial fraud, have been fined for fraud related to bond issuance and trading worth trillions of Vietnamese đồng.