Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a plan to raise the registered capital of the state-run debt and asset trading firm by 125 percent to VND5.6 trillion ($262 million), the government said on its website. (chinhphu.vn)

The Debt and Asset Trading Corporation (DATC) is one of the government's tools to help unload bad debts and unused assets, mostly in state-owned enterprises which take up half of Vietnam's loans but contribute to only a third of its $170 billion economy.

The move comes as "equitisation", the Vietnamese phrase for privatisation, is still far below target. Only 71 of 432 SOEs have been reformed ahead of the 2015 deadline.

Vietnam has also been battling high levels of non-performing loans that have hurt the property market and stifled efforts to boost private sector businesses and stimulate credit growth, but the economy has shown signs of stabilisation.

Vietnam recently received upgrades in both its economic outlook and the banking system by multiple ratings agencies, and the country expects economic growth beyond target this year of 5.9 percent, which the World Bank has said is still beneath potential.