Bangkok--18 Jan--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'BB' senior unsecured long-term foreign currency debt rating to the 10-year benchmark size U.S. dollar unsecured global bond to be issued by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (foreign currency BB/Negative/B; local currency BB+/Negative/B; ASEAN scale axBBB/axA-2). The proceeds from the offering will be used for general funding purposes, including funding selected projects approved by Vietnam's prime minister.
The issuer credit ratings on Vietnam reflect the country's low-income economy, developing financial system, and evolving policy framework. These weaknesses increase the vulnerability of the economy to severe shocks that could significantly raise the public financial burden. Healthy economic growth prospects, reinforced by the government's persistent efforts in economic restructuring, partly offset these weaknesses. A modest level of external indebtedness also supports the government's credit quality.
Complete ratings information is available to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal subscribers at www.globalcreditportal.com and RatingsDirect subscribers at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com. Use the Ratings search box located in the left column.
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