Commercial banks have bought the most of G-bonds issued this year.— Photo Vir.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Government bonds reportedly rose in the market, while the yield sunk to a nine-month low on March 18 when the central bank cut the interest rates of refinancing and deposits.

Speaking at a press conference on March 17, Nguyen Thi Hong, head of State Bank of Viet Nam's monetary policy department, said that the major buyers of G-bonds were commercial banks which bought VND78 trillion, or US$3.7billion, of the VND95 trillion, or $4.5 billion, bonds issued since early this year.

Hong added that low lending had pushed commercial banks to buy G-bonds. According to SBV, Viet Nam's credit growth as of March 13 was negative 1.05 per cent against the end of 2013.

Meanwhile, according to Asiabondstoday.com, by March 17 the five-year yield in Viet Nam fell 10 basis points, or 0.10 percentage point, to finish at 7.25 per cent, the lowest level since June 6, 2013. The two-year and ten-year yields also fell, said the website.

The forex market stayed stable in most of the commercial banks. In Vietcombank, the US dollar was sold for VND21,120 on March 18. The central bank still set its reference rate at VND21,036 per US dollar, unchanged since June 28, 2013. — VNS