The total value of privately placed corporate bonds issued in the first six months of this year, as of June 21, reached VND110.2 trillion (nearly $4.4 billion), a 2.6-fold increase against the same period last year, according to an announcement from the Ministry of  Finance on July 5.

Credit institutions take the lead, with VND69.6 trillion (nearly $2.74 billion), accounting for 63.2% of the total. They are followed by real estate enterprises, with VND31.5 trillion (nearly $1.24 billion), or 28.6% of the total.

Average annual interest rate is 7.41%, while average term is 3.78 years.

According to the ministry, 94.8% of the total privately placed corporate bonds have been purchased by institutional investors on primary market transactions, including credit institutions (53.5%) , and securities companies (21.9%).

Only 5.2% of the total bonds have been sold to individual investors.

According to the ministry, warrant-linked bonds currently account for 14.5% of the total issued corporate bonds. The total value of bonds repurchased before maturity by issuers stood at VND59.8 trillion (nearly $2.35 billion), down 39% against the same period of last year.