*Vietnam Appears to Regain Its Footing * *Wall Street Journal* Vietnam is showing signs of shaking off its recent economic funk at a time when most of the region’s emerging markets are being hobbled by slowing growth in China. Vietnam’s exports, credit growth and broader economy are picking up, while the government is boosting confidence by taking concrete steps toward fixing a range of problems that dragged economic growth to a 13-year low last year. Automobile sales last month, for example, jumped by 25 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by a trade group on Tuesday. Exports during the first seven months of the year are up 14.3 percent from last year, while disbursement of foreign investment – much of it from high-tech companies – rose 6.4 percent in the same period, to $6.65 billion. Credit growth, too, is beginning to rise after the government created an asset-management company to buy up and rehabilitate problem loans plaguing the banking system. Bank lending rose 5.15 percent during the first seven months of the year, a sharp acceleration from 0.3 percent growth posted through the end of March, though still below the government’s 2013 target of 12 percent. Investors are taking notice of the improvements. The benchmark VN Index has gained around 20 percent this year, making it one of Asia’s best performers at a time when bigger regional markets such as Thailand’s have struggled to single-digit gains. Vietnam is demonstrating how so-called frontier markets can deliver robust returns even amid sluggishness in emerging markets. The MSCI Frontier Markets Index, comprising 32 countries worldwide, for instance, is up 14 percent year to date, despite worries about slowing demand in China and the prospect of the US unwinding its monetary stimulus – concerns that hammered emerging-market assets in recent months.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 08:16:18 +0000
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