Author: Doan Hong Quang, World Bank

Consensus-based policy making is a salient feature of Vietnam, where important decisions are collectively made.

Consensus is needed not only for the formulation of a reform vision but also for the elaboration and implementation of this vision. Read more…

Special Author: Doan Hong Quang, World Bank, Vietnam

Vietnam began the year 2008 with high expectations. There was exuberance at the admission to the WTO and record growth of 8.5 per cent was recorded in 2007. The government set an even higher target in 2008, aiming for growth at 8.5-9 per cent.

Events took a seemingly unexpected turn. Signs of overheating, already evident at the end of 2007 amidst the asset bubble and rising inflation, became more and more visible towards the end of the first quarter.

The VN index lost almost 45 per cent of its value in just the first three months. The CPI was already running at 9.2 per cent for the first quarter, corresponding to a year-on-year rate of nearly 20 per cent, much higher than in neighbouring countries. Inflation rose from month to month and peaked in August, when the year-on-year rate reached 28.3 per cent.

To some extent, the price hike resulted from the surge of world prices, especially food and fuel prices. With a very open economy and a stable exchange rate, price rises in international markets were transmitted directly to domestic prices. Vietnam still maintains controls over prices of some essential goods and services, but the evidence shows that there were close correlations between the movements of international and domestic prices in controlled commodities.

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