Topic: 2023

Fifty of Vietnam’s 63 localities posted growth in their Index of Industrial Production.

Ho Chi Minh City’s budget revenue in 2023 has been forecast at about VND496 trillion ($20.6 billion). This figure is overwhelming for a city that has only recently overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Ministry of Finance, the city’s budget revenue in 2022 is estimated at VND427 trillion ($17.7 billion); the highest on record since the pandemic began.

Mr. Michael Kokalari, Chief Economist at VinaCapital, said the valuations of Vietnamese bank stocks are currently quite low compared to expected earnings growth of at least 30 per cent in 2022 and 20 per cent in 2023. In the long term, the banking sector will continue to be attractive due to high margins, well-controlled asset quality, low mortgage and retail penetration, and rising earnings.

In its 2023 plan, State Audit of Vietnam (SAV) will concentrate on assessing financial market restructuring, focusing on commercial banks and credit institutions. In the field of construction investment, SAV is expected to conduct 26 audits of investment projects, including key traffic projects such as the East North-South Expressway, Long Thanh International Airport, and coastal roads, among others.

At the launch of a money transfer service between Mobile Money and bank accounts on October 6, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Pham Tien Dung said that after eleven months of pilot implementation, as of the end of August there were about 2.2 million Mobile Money users in the country, of which 68 per cent were in rural or remote areas. He said a goal has been set of 10 million people using Mobile Money by 2023.

Analysts have made positive comments about the government’s new regulations on supplementing compulsory credit ratings in certain cases for corporate bonds issued for private placement, which will apply from January 1, 2023. Some 700 businesses have bonds in circulation, totaling VND1.5 quadrillion ($63 billion), more than 43 per cent of which are enterprises subject to credit ratings.

In assessing the potential of Vietnam’s aviation industry in the second half of 2022, analysts believe its profit growth will be higher than in the first half, based on three main factors: domestic travel is tending towards strong recovery, international visitors are expected to gradually increase in number by the end of the year, and rising demand will help airlines manage fuel costs.

The Ministry of Transport has said that the government has prioritized allocating more than VND7 trillion ($300 million) to four projects in the Mekong Delta’s Vinh Long province by 2025, including upgrading National Highways No. 57 and 53, the My Thuan 2 Bridge project, and the My Thuan - Can Tho Highway. The 23-km My Thuan - Can Tho Highway is expected to be completed and opened in April 2023.

On August 8, while working with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on amending and supplementing the Land Law, National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized that the revised law is extremely important and the draft will be considered and discussed by the NA at three sessions, not at one session, as with other bills. The goal is to complete the adjustments of related laws next year.

SSI Research believes that 2023 will be an investment-driven year of growth in the stock market with strong disbursement of economic stimulus packages while FDI will remain an important driver of the country’s growth. Positively-rated industries include industrial real estate, insurance, information technology, and healthcare.