The Investor seminar seeks measures to unleash capital market

A seminar on measures to unleash the capital market will be held in Hanoi on Friday by The Investor as part of efforts to support businesses and the economy.

The seminar will welcome leaders of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission, the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Group, and the National Financial Supervision Commission.

Financial experts and representatives from securities companies and private companies are also expected to attend the event.

The seminar aims to help authorities as well as the community of experts and businesses find solutions to unclog capital flows into the economy.

On March 11, the government issued Resolution No. 33/NQ-CP containing a number of solutions to remove difficulties for the real estate market and promote safe, healthy and sustainable development.

The resolution requires drastic and strong engagement of ministries, agencies and localities to remove difficulties and restore the property market, including those related to credit, bonds, and investment funds.

This is the latest direction of the government to unleash capital flows into the economy. In Resolution 31/NQ-CP issued at its regular meeting in February, the cabinet also requested ministries and agencies to focus on removing difficulties and obstacles to credit, bond and real estate markets, reducing lending interest rates, and facilitating capital access for people and businesses.

In July 2022, the government issued Resolution No. 86/NQ-CP on the development of a safe, transparent, efficient and sustainable capital market in order to stabilize the macro-economy and mobilize capital resources for socio-economic development.

Four months later, Resolution 156/NQ-CP, adopted by the government at its regular November meeting, asked for measures to promptly remove obstacles, provide credit for businesses, and urgently review regulations on corporate bond issuances.

On the basis of Resolution 156/NQ-CP, in December 2022, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed a document requiring the State Bank of Vietnam Governor to ensure credit for the economy, and another requesting the Minister of Finance to take measures to ensure the healthy, transparent, safe and effective operation of the corporate bond market.

Amid complicated and unpredictable developments in the global economy, domestic problems, and the long-term negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnamese businesses are facing many difficulties. Cash flow and liquidity are the biggest challenges at present, with access to credit, corporate bonds and the stock market narrowed.

To ease these difficulties, the government on March 5 issued Decree 08/2023 amending and supplementing Decree 65/2022 on the private placement of corporate bonds.

The new decree specifies new responsibilities of bond issuers. It allows extending the term of bonds by up to two years, suspends the regulation under Decree 65 on defining an individuals' status as a "professional securities investor", and requires businesses to have credit ratings.

The new regulations in Decree 08 are expected to help remove bottlenecks in the bond market, but time will tell of its impacts on businesses and the economy.