Vietnam's government bond auctions raise $1.62 bln in April

The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) held 20 government bond auctions on the primary market in April, raising over VND42.42 trillion ($1.62 billion), the bourse reported.

The figure brought the State Treasury’s proceeds from government bonds in the year to date to nearly VND152.87 trillion ($5.89 billion), or 30.6% of the year's target.

The April auctions focused on bonds with 5-, 10-, 15-, and 30-year maturities. Ten-year bonds dominated, accounting for 72.2% of the issuance (VND30.6 trillion or $1.18 billion), followed by five-year bonds at 23.6% (VND10 trillion or $385 million).

Yields edged up at the month’s final auction, with five-year bonds at 2.31%, 10-year at 3.05%, 15-year at 3.10%, and 30-year at 3.28%, up 5 to 16 basis points from March.

On the secondary market, the total listed value of government bonds reached VND2,350 trillion ($90.49 billion) as of April 29.

The average daily trading value in April was VND12.513 trillion ($481.87 million), down 24.29% from March. Outright transactions (conventional buy/sell) accounted for 67.68% of the total market value, while repos (repurchase agreements) made up the remaining 32.32%.

Foreign investors were more active than in March, but made up only 4.3% of the transaction value. They were net sellers, offloading VND522 billion ($20.1 million).

Yields varying across 15- to 20-year and 3- to 5-year maturities recorded the sharpest rises, averaging 3% and 2.57%, respectively, while 25-to 30-year and 10- to 15-year yields decreaed to 3.19% and 3.08%.

Medium-and long-term bonds dominated April’s trading volume. Ten-year, 5-year, and 10-15 year maturities led the market at 32.09%, 12.43%, and 11.98% of the total trading value, respectively.

Commercial banks continued to be dominant players, accounting for 50.23% of outright trades and 81.29% of repos.