Banking & Finance

According to the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD), the number of new domestic individual securities accounts hit a record 476,000 in May; double the number in April. Such new accounts reached 1.4 million in the first five months; 2.5-times higher than in the same period last year and bringing the total to nearly 5.7 million.

On June 7, at the third session of the 15th National Assembly, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said the Ministry has made great efforts and adopted many measures to control the stock market and it has become better and more transparent in recent times.

Figures from KIS Securities show that in the week May 30 to June 3, inflows from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) into Southeast Asia reached $145 million and rose the highest for eight years, with Vietnam alone attracting $85 million. The fact that the VND is gaining against other currencies is a positive factor supporting net withdrawals by ETFs.

According to State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor Nguyen Thi Hong, as of the end of April, bad debts in the real estate sector totaled VND37 trillion ($1.59 billion), or 1.62 per cent of all outstanding loans in the economy. The central bank is strengthening the inspection of credit applications in the real estate sector to control bad debts and term liquidity risks.

According to Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc, Vietnam will still be able to control inflation for the year as a whole at 4 per cent. However, unpredictable movements in global energy and material prices together with adjustments to public service prices will make control difficult over the remaining seven months of the year. Vietnam must not increase prices of certain goods and services.

According to a report presented by the Ministry of Finance to the National Assembly, one reason the equitization and divestment of State capital has stalled in recent times is the lack of incentive when the State-owned enterprise (SOE) is posting strong growth and high profits. This leads to many SOEs remaining in industries where the State does not need to maintain ownership.