Finance ministry works with Moody’s Ratings on upgrading national credit rating
VGP - Viet Nam is making efforts in improving the national credit rating, targeting a two-notch upgrade to Baa3 under Moody’s scale, said Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang during his recent working session with President of Moody’s Ratings Michael West.
At the meeting, the minister said, in 2024 the Vietnamese Government issued a Decree on credit rating services. To date, five enterprises have been licensed to operate.
Nguyen said, the ministry is strongly promoting the role of fiscal policy, particularly the development of the capital market, including the stock and bond markets.
Regulations related to corporate bond issuance, both public offerings and private placements, are being refined in line with international practices, creating favorable conditions for financially sound enterprises with feasible projects to mobilize medium- and long-term capital.
Regarding the stock market, in September 2025, FTSE Russell upgraded Viet Nam's market status from a frontier market to Secondary Emerging Market status, effective September 21, 2026. After 25 years of establishment and development, Viet Nam's stock market now comprises all key segments: equities, bonds, derivatives, investment funds, and various new products.
This year, market capitalization is expected to reach at least 100 percent of the nation's GDP. In the first two months of the year, market capitalization increased by nearly 5 percent, reaching over 84 percent of GDP, indicating positive signals, noted Nguyen.
For his part, West expressed confidence in Viet Nam's long-term growth potential, underpinned by its impressive GDP growth rate, positive external position, strong export competitiveness, and stable FDI inflows.
Members of the delegation also acknowledged Viet Nam's ample fiscal space, solid debt repayment capacity, and the Government's robust reform agenda, noting that these reforms would help improve institutional quality and strengthen the foundations of the country's credit profile.
Moody's has committed to continuing to accompany Viet Nam in developing its domestic capital and debt markets, supporting the refinement of infrastructure bond rating methodologies, building a Second Party Opinion (SPO) framework for sustainable bonds in line with Viet Nam's green taxonomy and international practices and enhancing training activities, workshops, and the sharing of international experience./.
