The Ministry of Finance has cut the fees of nine securities services and exempted fees for six others as from March 19 as part of efforts to support the stock market amid the negative impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Under Circular 14/2020/TT-BTC issued on March 18, nine services have their fees reduced by 10 to 50%, and four others see their fees slashed by 30 to 50%.

The Finance Ministry said the cut and exemption will be applied from now to August 31. The Finance Minister will consider whether to extend the regulation depending on the development of the epidemic.

The move is essential in the current context, which is also in line with the Prime Minister’s Directive 11/CT-TTg issued on March 4 on some urgent tasks and solutions to tackle difficulties facing production and business activities and ensure social security amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vietnamese stock market has been in downfall since the COVID-19 outbreak.

On the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index has tumbled 24.8 percent over the last six weeks to hit its lowest level since June 2017.

Foreign investors had net sold a total of VND3.4 trillion (US$138 million) so far this year, according to KB Securities Company (KBSV).

Net foreign selling was attributed to worries about the downtrend of the global economy amid the spread of the COVID-19 disease.

Foreign capital has been flowing out of the Vietnamese market since the country returned from the Lunar New Year holiday on January 30.