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Bond yields at four-week high; dong is little changed
Benchmark bonds dropped Wednesday, sending five-year note yields to the highest in almost four weeks. The dong was little changed.
“People expect our economy to improve and bond yields to rise as the government has been taking different measures to boost growth,” said Hanoi-based Le Duc Tho, head of the investment department at Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade. “There is almost no trading in the bonds these days.”
The yield climbed 0.04 percent to 8.63 percent, the highest since January 22, according to a daily fixing price from 10 banks compiled by Bloomberg.
Vietnam’s economy expanded 6.2 percent last year, the slowest pace since 1999. The central bank January 23 cut the benchmark interest rate for the sixth straight time since October 20 to 7 percent to spur lending.
The dong traded at 17,486 against the dollar in Hanoi Wednesday, compared with 17,488.5 on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The State Bank of Vietnam strengthened its reference rate to 16,978 Wednesday, from 16,980 on Tuesday, according to its website. The currency can trade at 3 percent on either side of the fixed rate.
The currency gained in the so-called black market, with the exchange rate at money changers in Hanoi at 17,550 to 17,610, versus 17,570 to 17,620 on Tuesday, according to a telephone directory information service, known as 1080, run by state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications.
Bloomberg, thanh nien
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