The World Bank fund dedicated to helping the world's poorest countries on Tuesday (Apr 17) announced it has raised US$1.5 billion in its first-ever global bond issue, which enjoyed huge demand from investors. World Bank fund for poorest countries issues US$1.5b bond The International Development Association (IDA) issued a five-year AAA-rated bond which had nearly five times more demand than the amount initially offered for sale, the World Bank said in a statement. "Today's bond issue will allow IDA to tap into the power of capital markets to tackle some of the world's biggest challenges and help millions lift themselves out of poverty," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement. Over 40 per cent of the bonds went to central banks, while a quarter went to banks and another quarter to pension funds. The funds will be used to finance sustainable development projects. IDA, which provides very low cost funding to the poorest countries, previously relied on regular … [Read more...] about World Bank fund for poorest countries issues US$1.5b bond
Bank 1 saar
Central bank issues bills valued at nearly $1.9bn
The central bank issued bills worth some VND43 trillion (US$1.8 billion) in the past week. — Photo tienphong.vn The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) issued bills worth some VND43 trillion (US$1.89 billion) in the past week to withdraw money from the banking system. Reports from Bao Viet Securities Co (BVSC) showed that the move was aimed to minimise the risks of inflation, especially after the central bank pumped a large amount of Vietnamese dong to buy foreign currencies for the country’s foreign reserves in the recent months. According to SBV Governor Le Minh Hung, the SBV’s net purchase of hard currencies in the first months of this year was worth more than $4 billion, raising the fund to a record high of more than $57 billion until February 6. The past week also saw the interest rate of dong loans in the inter-bank market decline sharply by 0.29 to 0.49 percentage points for most terms against the previous week. Specifically, the overnight rate dropped to 0.91 per … [Read more...] about Central bank issues bills valued at nearly $1.9bn
Vingroup picks banks for $1 billion residential property arm IPO: sources
Vingroup JSC VIC.HM, Vietnam’s biggest property developer, has picked four foreign banks for a planned $1 billion listing of its residential property business, sources familiar with the matter said, which will mark a strong run of IPOs in the country. Share listings are booming in Vietnam as the country speeds up its privatization drive. Vietnam’s benchmark stock index VNI rose nearly 50 percent last year, making it Asia’s strongest performer. Vingroup has tapped Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley for the planned initial public offering of Vinhomes, which, if completed, could be one of the biggest ever equity offerings in Vietnam, the sources said. The IPO would follow last year’s listing of Warburg Pincus-backed Vincom Retail JSC VRE.HM, Vietnam’s biggest shopping mall operator and also a unit of Vingroup, which raised roughly $700 million. The participation of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Franklin Templeton in … [Read more...] about Vingroup picks banks for $1 billion residential property arm IPO: sources
Banks grapple to boost consumer credit
Banks grapple to boost consumer creditThuy Trieu By Thuy Trieu - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Banks are finding it tough to boost lending to individual clients, including consumer credit, in the backdrop of a sharp fall in demand among corporate borrowers due to economic woes. A senior source from Vietcombank said consumer credit only made up a small portion of the bank’s total outstanding credits. The lender has not achieved expected results from this operation as consumers are tightening their purse string. Sharing this view, the deputy general director of a joint stock bank in HCMC said his bank had not recorded positive changes in consumer credit. Loans provided to manufacturers and businessmen accounted for 84% of the total outstanding loans in HCMC in the first seven months of the year. The rest were non-manufacturing credits, including loans given to property firms and consumers. Total outstanding loans in HCMC at the end of July stood at VND903 trillion, up 5.56% … [Read more...] about Banks grapple to boost consumer credit
World Bank raises Vietnam’s growth forecast for 2017
The World Bank (WB) has increased its growth forecast for Vietnam this year from the 6.3 percent it projected in October to 6.7 percent, matching the government's annual target following steady progress during the first nine months. Stronger domestic demand, robust export-oriented manufacturing and a gradual recovery of the agricultural sector are driving Vietnam’s economy, according to Taking Stock, the World Bank’s bi-annual economic report released on Monday. The manufacturing and services sectors respectively grew by 12.8 percent and 7.3 percent between January and September, the report said. “Growth momentum picked up across major economies and global trade recovered in 2017,” said Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam. “With incomes rising and poverty falling, Vietnam’s economy had another good year of strong growth and broad macroeconomic stability.” Vietnam expects economic growth of 6.5-6.7 percent next year, and … [Read more...] about World Bank raises Vietnam’s growth forecast for 2017
Number of banks to be halved
Number of banks to be halvedHong Phuc By Hong Phuc - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – The number of commercial banks in the country will be slashed by a half in the coming time in line with the central bank’s banking rearrangement scheme, said the central bank’s governor Nguyen Van Binh. Vietnam now has over 30 commercial banks but the figure will decrease to around 14 to 17 banks within the next three years, Binh told the Daily on the phone on Wednesday. This figure is suitable for the scale of the local economy. However, this is just a target and the scheme could not be finished immediately, Binh said. Concerning new merger & acquisition (M&A) deals among banks this year or rumors over the merger between Sacombank and Southern Bank, Binh declined to confirm the merger, saying the central bank has to evaluate each case. The most important thing is that large shareholders of banks accept voluntary mergers. A few days ago, the central bank’s chief inspector … [Read more...] about Number of banks to be halved
Major banks lower deposit rates
Major banks lower deposit ratesThe Saigon Times Daily HCMC – A couple of large commercial banks have adjusted down their annual deposit rates after a short time of hiking them, according to An Ninh Thu Do newspaper. VietinBank has cut interest rates for deposits of six to less than nine months to 5.3% and nine- and ten-month tenors to 5.5%. At BIDV, the interest rate for savings of one and two months are now 4.3% while three- and five-month savings get an interest rate of 4.8%. The interbank market also saw a plunge of 0.26%-0.71% in interest rates for overnight, one-week and two-week tenors. According to Bao Viet Securities JSC (BVSC), the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued VND28.8 trillion (US$1.27 billion) worth of promissory notes while debts falling due this week totaled over VND10.3 trillion. Thus, the central bank has net withdrawn VND18.5 trillion from the system. The decline in interbank interest rates and the SBV’s net withdrawals show ample liquidity in … [Read more...] about Major banks lower deposit rates
Bank stocks drive VN-Index up
Bank stocks drive VN-Index upPhuong Thao HCMC – Bank stocks drove up the market on November 22, with the VN-Index adding a massive 14.36 points, or 1.56%, from the session earlier at 932.66. Given high cash flow, BID went up to its ceiling price of VND25,700 per share with over four million shares changing hands. CTG climbed 6.8% at VND22,650 a share with matching volume of 4.5 million shares. Other bank stocks also such as VCB, VPB and STB advanced strongly on high turnover. MBB was the volume leader in the sector with 11.3 million shares traded, followed by STB with over seven million shares. Turnover on the HCMC was equivalent to Tuesday’s session with more than 210 million shares worth VND6.4 trillion traded. There were around 28.7 million shares valued at VND1.7 trillion traded in block deals, including large transactions of dairy firm VNM and property enterprise NVL. The VN30 basket had 25 stocks rising and four losing. VNM and property firm VIC eased off week-long … [Read more...] about Bank stocks drive VN-Index up
Many banks hike deposit rates
Many banks hike deposit ratesThe Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Many commercial banks such as BIDV, VietinBank and Sacombank have recently raised their annual deposit rates by 10 to 50 basis points for many tenors, Dan Tri news website reports. BIDV has revised up its interest rates for savings of one and two months to 4.8%, up 0.5 point. The rates are 5.2% instead of 4.8% for three-month savings and 6.9% for deposits of nine months or longer. At VietinBank, the rates for six- to nine-month deposits have been hiked to 5.8-6% from 5.5-5.7%. The rate for the 12-month tenor also increased by 30 basis points to 6.8%. As for short terms of one to three months, the rates of 4.8% to 5.2% have been kept unchanged. Sacombank has also raised its deposit rates by 20 basis points for two- and six-month tenors to 5.3% and 6.2% respectively. Notably, the nine-month deposit rate surged 40 basis points to 6.4% while 12-month savings enjoy an interest rate of 6.9%, or 10 basis points higher than the … [Read more...] about Many banks hike deposit rates
PYN Elite invests US$40 million in banking sector for the first time
According to newswire NDH, the investment is also one of the fund's three largest investments.Do Anh Tu, deputy chairman of the board of directors of TPBank, said that with the financial potential as well as the reputation of PYN Elite at the international and domestic markets, the fund is a perfect match to co-operate with TPBank to bring high-quality banking services for customers in general and small- and medium-sized enterprises (TPBank’s target customer segment) in particular.In order to mobilise funds for new its investments, including the investment in TPBank, PYN Elite divested from a series of companies.Notably, in early December, PYN Elite released that it had completed the sale of 839,810 shares of Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG) for VND17 billion ($746,300). Besides, a number of days later, PYN Elite handed over 2.13 million shares of Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) to Vietnam Securities Deporsitory for VND280 billion ($12.3 … [Read more...] about PYN Elite invests US$40 million in banking sector for the first time