VPB Signs $27M JBIC Loan as Vietnam Banks Turn to Foreign Capital

Overview

VPBank (VPB, HOSE) signed a USD 27 million loan with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), co-lent by SMBC and Joyo Bank, with proceeds on-lent to the National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT) for a 220kV transmission line. The deal sits inside a broader argument from analysts that Vietnam’s interest-rate problem cannot be solved by banks alone and requires deeper capital markets and foreign funding. HDBank (HDB, HOSE) has separately approved up to USD 500 million in international bond issuance for 2026.

Key Facts

• VPBank signed a USD 27 million loan with JBIC, with SMBC and Joyo Bank as co-lenders.
• Proceeds are earmarked for EVNNPT’s 220kV transmission line investment.
• HDBank issued a resolution to offer international bonds in 2026 with a maximum total par value of USD 500 million.
• A Big4 bank is also reviewing a USD-denominated bond issuance, per the article.
• Deposit rates have risen to 9-10%, according to the report.
• Bui Nguyen Khoa, deputy director at BIDV Securities (BSC), said rate levels will be hard to reduce near term if the economy keeps relying on banks.
• Nguyen Thi My Lien, head of analysis at Phu Hung Securities (PHS), cited high US Treasury yields as transmitting pressure into domestic bond yields and the State Bank of Vietnam’s policy room.

What Happened

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Bui Nguyen Khoa of BSC argued that Vietnam needs to diversify funding sources, from foreign-currency borrowing and government and local-authority bonds to using international financial centres for large-scale capital raising. Additional external capital, he said, could ease domestic mobilisation pressure and create room to cool interest rates. The VPBank-JBIC facility is a concrete example: the funds are not retained by the bank but channelled to EVNNPT for grid infrastructure.

HDBank’s resolution, approved in September, covers international bond issuance in 2026 of up to USD 500 million in par value. Dang Thanh Tam, chairman of KBC, cautioned that international capital is not yet an open field for all issuers, citing complex procedures and unmet eligibility conditions, and noting that smaller firms lack the foreign-currency revenue and hedging capacity to service such debt. Khoa added that improving Vietnam’s sovereign credit rating toward Investment Grade is a key task to widen access and lower borrowing costs.

Market Context

VPB closed at 23,000 VND on 2026-10-05, up 0.44% on volume of 14,170,428 shares. HDB closed at 28,000 VND, down 1.41% on volume of 8,008,300 shares, while BID closed at 34,600 VND. All three trade on HOSE. The article frames the funding shift against a domestic deposit-rate backdrop of 9-10%, which limits how far banks can cut lending rates through cost reduction alone.

Strategic Significance

The strategic point is that Vietnamese banks are increasingly intermediating foreign capital rather than only competing for domestic deposits. For VPB, the JBIC facility is small in absolute terms but signals continued access to Japanese policy-bank funding and infrastructure-linked lending pipelines. For HDB, a USD 500 million international bond programme would diversify funding away from domestic deposits and, if priced well, support margin stability. The wider thesis is that sovereign rating progress toward Investment Grade would lower funding costs across the sector, benefiting large listed banks with existing foreign-currency access over smaller peers.

What to Watch

• HDBank’s actual international bond issuance size, tenor and coupon once priced.
• Whether the Big4 bank referenced in the article formally announces a USD bond plan.
• State Bank of Vietnam policy signals and any change in the 9-10% deposit-rate range.
• US Treasury yield direction, given its stated transmission into domestic bond yields.
• Any sovereign credit rating action or update on Vietnam’s Investment Grade path.