Vietinbank bond sale wins regulatory approval

VietinBank's planned $500 million international bond sale has been approved by Vietnam's central bank.

It is now seeking approval for the sale from the finance ministry, according to the bank's deputy general director Le Duc Tho, who added that while they plan to sell the bonds in the fourth quarter, they have to be flexible.

“We will choose the most suitable and most favourable timing for the bond sale, based on market conditions,” he said.

The sale would be first of dollar-denominated notes for the bank and the third sale of US dollar bonds by a Vietnamese corporate borrower this year.

“Given the timing, I am not sure if VietinBank can make it in the fourth quarter,” said Nguyen Tan Thang, head of fixed- income research at HCM City Securities Corp.

“It’s also not a good time to sell bonds in the international market because they may get a very expensive yield,” he said.