Vietnam's government found buyers for 555 billion dong (33.5 million dollars) in new bonds Friday, out of a planned bond issue of 1 trillion dong.

The Hanoi Stock Exchange announced Friday evening that the government had sold 500 billion dong in three-year bonds at a yield of 17.5 per cent. It sold 55 billion dong in five-year bonds at a yield of 16 per cent.

The sales were seen as a sign of measured confidence in the dong and in the government's efforts to tame the country's runaway inflation, which hit 27 per cent year-on-year in July. This spring, when analysts spoke of a possible currency crisis, government bond issues sometimes failed to find any buyers.

In recent days investor confidence has risen somewhat, with the dong reaching a two-month high against the dollar and the stock market stabilizing. Five-year bond prices had risen for four straight days this week before falling slightly just ahead of the new bond issue.