An Overview of Vietnam’s Economy, 2008

　　Abstract:2008 is the most turbulent year for Vietnam’s economy in the past two decades. In the first half of the year, the economy experienced the effects of overheating, leading to shocks in the country’s stock exchange, property and retailing markets, and banking system; just as things were turning brighter with the introduction of Vietnam government’s emergency financial measures, in the second half of the year, the world financial crisis threw the economy into yet another turmoil. The state’s anti-inflationary policy, which was pushed out to combat runaway inflation in the earlier half, overstretched the economy’s ability to adjust to the entirely new situation in the latter. All industries and sectors were badly hit as a consequence. Not only did Vietnam’s economy fail to achieve its projected economic growth by the end of last year, the economic situation is expected to be worse for this coming year. All things considered, though, Vietnam’s economy has performed admirably given the odds it faces; economic growth has remained relatively strong, especially in terms of its export figures and attracting foreign investments. This paper collates and organizes the economic assessments made by Vietnam’s business sector, government agencies, the academia, those by international organizations, as well as providing an independent evaluation of its own.