The HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has proposed commercial banks lend to real estate firms so they can fund maturing bond obligations amid ongoing market turbulence.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of HoREA, said the move is expected to help bolster investor confidence in the market as many real estate firms have failed to make bond principal and interest payments on time.

"A credit package worth up to 70 per cent of the value of the issued bond batch should be disbursed directly to bondholders," he said.

For the other 30 per cent of the bond batch value, the association has proposed issuers negotiate with bondholders on a bond payment extension under a recently issued Government decree, he added.

“Decree 08, aimed at removing difficulties for the corporate bond market, is not effective enough to regain investor confidence in the market,” according to Chau.

The decree, which allows issuers to extend bond terms by up to two years, only helps prevent the market from collapsing but it does not actually protect the rights and benefits of bondholders, experts said.

The controversial proposal comes at a time when the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has tightened credit into risky sectors, such as real estate, to ensure capital flows into priority fields, such as manufacturing.

The SBV has recently inspected commercial banks to ensure they are in line with the Government’s requirements related to monetary policies and the restructuring of bad debts.

According to data from the SBV, credit to the real estate sector was worth VND2.58 quadrillion (US$109 billion) as of the end of 2022, up 24.3 per cent year-on-year and accounting for 21.2 per cent of the entire economy’s total outstanding credit.

The corporate bond market boomed in 2020 and 2021, with an issuance volume of VND462 trillion and VND658 trillion, respectively, according to the Viet Nam Bond Market Association.

However, following arrests and investigations related to the bond issuance and improper use of capital by several major real estate developers last year, the market has suddenly become frozen.

Aggressive bond issuance for the past few years has caused huge pressure on issuers, mostly property developers, as they are now facing serious liquidity crises and cannot issue new bonds to restructure debts.

VNDirect Securities Corporation estimates the maturity value of corporate bonds this year at nearly VND273 trillion, mainly in this quarter and the third quarter.

Many issuers have constantly violated their obligations to pay principal and interest while a number of individual bond investors are looking to sell bonds at a 14-17 per cent discount to get cash back.

Despite the stagnant corporate bond market, it has potential to grow due to high capital demand from businesses, experts have said.

They have, however, pointed out that investor confidence will not return unless the Government addresses all the problems they face and safeguard their rights.

In a related issue, the city government has ordered the Department of Construction to continue working with relevant agencies to remove challenges facing 156 real estate projects in the city, mostly legal bottlenecks, a demand also made by HoREA.

Bui Xuan Cuong, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, has instructed the department and relevant agencies to work with HoREA and real estate developers on this issue and report back to the city by April 15. — VNS