Int'l Investors Applaud Vietnammâ€s First Sovereign Bond Issue

The International Finance Review (IFR) and Asian investors have assessed Vietnam's first sovereign bond issue last year as the most successful bond issuance in 2005, according to the Finance Ministry.

 

The Vietnamese Government last year issued US$750 million worth of 10-year bonds on the international capital market. The bonds caught eyes of investors as many as 225 international investors registered to buy with total capital of $4.5 billion, an official from Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) said.

 

More importantly and uncommonly, the bonds issued from an Asian country with low coupon (6.875 per cent) had been allocated globally, not only the Asian investors, he said.

 

Jon Pratt, the head of debt capital market in Asia at the CSFB, said that the successful bond issue has laid an important foundation for Vietnam's bond issuance in the future.

 

The issuance has made significant impact on international investors, making them confident in pouring money into Vietnam, he said.

 

Nguyen Thanh Do, head of the External Finance Department under the Finance Ministry, said the initial success of the overseas issuance of government bonds has raised the credibility of Vietnam's government bonds in the international market, opening a new source of long-term capital for businesses and the government of Vietnam.

 

The Vietnam government plans to soon issue an additional $500 million worth of sovereignty bonds, however, the time schedule is not decided yet.