By the end of 2018, the Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) must handle at least VND140 trillion (US$6.15 billion) worth of bad debts it had purchased.

This was revealed by Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Kim Anh at VAMC’s conference to implement 2018 tasks on Thursday. Kim Anh praised the efforts of VAMC in handling bad debts, especially in purchasing debts at market value and via special bonds.

He asked VAMC to hasten the buying and selling of bad debts at market value and to buy bad debts from credit institutions by issuing special bonds in return, to ensure system security.

The year 2017 was the first year VAMC was successful in buying bad debts at market value, worth more than VND3 trillion.

The company needed to buy a total of VND6.6 trillion bad debts at market value in the 2017-20 period.

The company was also asked to enhance operation capacity while closely co-ordinating with relevant ministries to increase its capital in an effort to improve its financial capacity to handle bad debts at market value effectively.

Under the Prime Minister-approved project of restructuring credit institutions in association with handling non-performing loans in the 2016-20 period, VAMC’s capital would be increased from the current VND2 trillion to VND10 trillion in 2020.

Kim Anh also stressed on the role of VAMC in contributing to the development of a debt market in Viet Nam.

VAMC’s report showed that as of the end of 2017, VAMC bought more than 26,600 debts from 42 credit institutions worth nearly VND308 trillion at original value at a price of VND277.75 trillion.

It signed up with five credit institutions to buy bad debts at market prices worth VND3.1 trillion in total last year, meeting the target set by the central bank.

The company reclaimed some VND30.7 trillion bad debts in 2017, 40 per cent higher than the target.

From the beginning of this year, VAMC hastened the selling of mortgages, worth some VND380 billion, including Tan Quoc Duy Steel Company’s property in southern Binh Duong Province, Puzolan Gia Lai Cement Company’s mortgage for a loan at Saigon-Hanoi Bank and bad debts of Kim Son Building Material Production Company at the Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam.

VAMC’s Chairman Nguyen Tien Dong in an interview with Vietnam News Agency said VAMC planned to buy bad debts by issuing special bonds worth VND25-30 billion and buy debts at market prices of at least VND3.5 trillion in 2018.

It also planned the ratio of reclaiming debt at 15-20 per cent. — VNS