Mr. Phung Xuan Minh, [Chairman of the Board of Directors of PT Group & Saigon Ratings].
Decision No. 1413/QD-TTg on the Comprehensive Reform Plan for Vietnam’s Financial Market has established a long-term development orientation for the bond market. Beyond expanding its scale, the plan aims to build a transparent, diversified market capable of providing medium- and long-term capital for the Government, localities, businesses, and sustainable development projects.
OnJuly 27, 2026,Decision No. 1413/QD-TTgwas issued, approving the Comprehensive Reform Plan for Vietnam’s Financial Market, linked to the goal of high and continuous growth until 2045. One of the key focuses of the Plan is to gradually build a more balanced financial structure, in which the capital market and bond market play an increasingly important role alongside the banking credit system.
1. The bond market has become a long-term capital channel for the economy.
For many years, funding for production, business, and investment activities in Vietnam has relied heavily on bank credit. However, banks’ capital is primarily derived from short- and medium-term time deposits, while many infrastructure, energy, industrial real estate, or green transformation projects require payback periods of decades.
The development of the bond market will help resolve this maturity mismatch. The government, local authorities, and businesses can mobilize capital that is more aligned with the investment cycle, while reducing the pressure on the banking system to supply long-term capital.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the size of the bond market in 2025 will reach approximately VND 3.83 million billion, equivalent to 33.3% of GDP in 2024. Government bonds will continue to be the main fundraising channel for the central budget, meeting about 70% of the capital mobilization needs, with an average issuance term of nearly 10 years.
This is an important foundation, but the market size still lags significantly behind the capital requirements of an economy aiming for high growth. Decision1413/QD-TTgsets a target of approximately 60% of GDP for the total bond market debt by 2045. This indicates that the bond market is being oriented to become one of the pillars of long-term capital mobilization for the economy.
2. Develop the components of the market simultaneously.
During the period 2026–2030, the plan aims for the total value of government bonds raised to meet approximately 60–65% of the government’s borrowing needs. Simultaneously, local government bonds are projected to meet approximately 20% of the local government budget’s borrowing needs throughout the period.
The simultaneous development of government bonds, local government bonds, and corporate bonds will create a clearer division of labor among capital raising channels.
Government bonds continue to provide resources for the central budget, public investment, and national development programs. Local government bonds can support provinces and cities in proactively raising capital for transportation, environment, health, education, and urban infrastructure. Meanwhile, corporate bonds help the private sector access medium- and long-term capital without relying entirely on bank credit.
This structure also contributes to enhancing fiscal transparency and accountability. Each fundraising effort must be linked to a plan for capital utilization, debt repayment capacity, and project effectiveness, thereby limiting the scattered allocation of resources or the formation of financial obligations that are not fully identified.
3. Improve the efficiency of government debt mobilization and management.
In the first six months of 2026, the State Treasury raised VND 182,561 billion through government bonds, completing approximately 37% of the annual issuance plan. The average transaction value on the secondary market reached VND 16,369 billion per session, an increase of 10.2% compared to the average in 2025.
Besides flexibly managing the volume, maturity, and interest rates of bond issuance, Decision1413/QD-TTgalso aims to promote bond buybacks, swaps, and restructuring of the government debt portfolio.
These operations can help spread debt repayment obligations across years, limit the situation where a large volume of bonds mature at the same time, and reduce refinancing risk. Concentrating issuance volume on benchmark bond codes can also improve liquidity, support the formation of a yield curve, and create a benchmark interest rate for other financial instruments.
If implemented proactively, debt portfolio management operations will not only serve the goal of raising capital but also help the Government optimize borrowing costs, extend portfolio maturities, and enhance the sustainability of public debt.
4. Expanding green bonds, infrastructure, and PPPs.
Another notable direction is the development of products such as green bonds, sustainable bonds, infrastructure bonds, PPP bonds, and bonds issued by project companies.
Decision No.21/2025/QD-TTg, effective fromAugust 22, 2025, stipulates environmental criteria and a mechanism for certifying investment projects classified as green. This is an important basis for determining whether a project is eligible to access green funding, while also limiting the risk of a project being promoted as “green” but failing to generate substantial environmental benefits.
Regarding corporate bonds,Decree No. 200/2026/ND-CPcontinues to emphasize the principle that enterprises borrow, repay, and take responsibility for the effective use of capital and their ability to repay debt. This framework helps increase the responsibility of issuers and creates a foundation for safer market development.
In the first six months of 2026, the total value of corporate bonds issued reached approximately VND 212,748 billion, including VND 187,915 billion in private placements and VND 24,833 billion in public offerings. Thus, private placements still accounted for over 88% of the total issuance value, indicating significant room for growth in the public market.
For green bonds, infrastructure, and PPPs to truly attract investors, the market needs independent verification mechanisms, capital allocation reporting, environmental impact assessments, project cash flow control, and appropriate credit ratings. When these conditions are met, bonds can become an important tool for mobilizing social resources for transportation infrastructure, renewable energy, waste management, and climate change adaptation.
5. Data transparency is the foundation of market trust. Towards a safe and sustainable bond market.
To sustainably expand the bond market, simply increasing the scale of issuance is not enough. More importantly, it is necessary to improve the quality of information, the ability to assess risk, and the effectiveness of supervision.
Decision 1413/QD-TTgoutlines the development of organizations providing bond valuation services, the completion of the centralized corporate bond information portal, and the construction of a shared database to serve the management and supervision of the financial market during the 2030-2035 period. The plan also prioritizes the development of institutional investors such as investment funds, pension funds, and insurance companies to create a stable source of demand for the market.
A centralized data system should allow investors to fully track the issuance purpose, capital utilization, repayment history, collateral, term changes, and credit rating of each issuer.
When information is standardized and updated in a timely manner, the market can establish prices based on credit quality rather than primarily on offered interest rates or collateral. Businesses with a strong financial foundation will have access to capital at a more reasonable cost, while investors will have a better basis for identifying and managing risks.
The goal of increasing bond market debt to approximately 60% of GDP by 2045 reflects a commitment to building a more balanced financial system, in which long-term capital is mobilized and allocated through market principles.
To realize this goal, Vietnam needs to simultaneously develop products, expand the investor base, improve credit rating quality, refine pricing mechanisms, and strengthen information disclosure discipline. For green bonds, infrastructure, and PPPs, transparency regarding cash flow and project efficiency must be at the center.
Decision1413/QD-TTgtherefore not only sets a target in terms of scale, but also shapes the qualitative transformation of Vietnam’s bond market. A transparent, liquid market with effective risk pricing capabilities will become the foundation for mobilizing long-term resources, supporting public investment, promoting the business sector, and serving the country’s sustainable growth goals by 2045.
Saigon Ratings. [31/07/2026]
