The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is collecting opinions on the draft report reviewing the mid-term implementation of the 5-year public borrowing and debt payment plan in 2021-2025.

Under the draft, of the VND1.25 quadrillion to borrow in 2024-2025, Vietnam would reserve VND750 trillion to make up the state budget over-expenditures, while VND465.8 trillion would be used to pay due principal (VND313 trillion in domestic principal and VND152.8 trillion in foreign principal).

Meanwhile, VND33.4 trillion would be remitted to provincial people’s committees, non-business public units and enterprises. The capital is from ODA (official development assistance) capital and preferential foreign loans.

In the time to come, the government will continue to mobilize capital by issuing government bonds and make the best use of the remaining ODA loans, and reasonable mobilize preferential loans and other capital channels.

Regarding the government’s domestic borrowing, VND1.13 quadrillion is expected to be mobilized, mostly from domestic government bond issuance, state budget loans, and other sources as prescribed by law.

It is expected that the total direct debt repayment obligation of the Government in the second half of the period (2024-2025) will be VND715 trillion, of which the principal payment obligation is about VND465.8 trillion and the interest payment obligation VND249.2 trillion.

Of the principal, the domestic repayment obligation is VND313 trillion, or 67.2 percent, and the foreign repayment obligation VND152.8 trillion, or 32.8 percent of total principal repayment.

As for loans from the state fund, outstanding loans had reached VND233.72 trillion as of June 2023, which had been carried forward from previous years. 

The government plans to pay part of the loans in the 2024-2025 period, depending on state budget collections and the annual arrangement of state budget sources for debt repayment.

The obligation to repay the debts that the government re-lent from foreign borrowing is estimated at VND65.8 trillion, including VND52.6 trillion for principal payment and VND13.2 trillion for interest.

The yearly debt indexes in 2021-2023 are below the ceiling levels and within the safety lines set by the National Assembly. 

It is estimated that by the end of 2023, the public debt to GDP ratio would be 40-41 percent, the government debt to GDP ratio 37-38 percent, and the national foreign debt to GDP ratio 40-41 percent.

The ratio of the country's foreign debt repayment obligation (excluding under-12-month principal repayment obligations) to the total export turnover of goods and services is about 8-9 percent.

Luong Bang