Vietnam after the financial crisis

Although often characterised by similarities with China, the Vietnamese economy continues to evolve into something quite unique. Reforms began in 1986 at the Sixth Party Congress, a series of policies now known collectively as Doi Moi. But with the Soviet Union diminishing in the late 80s, both a key trading partner and source of aid, the government had a severe shortage of financing and turned to fiscal monetisation leading to hyperinflation that peaked at 800% in 1988. This situation defined the backdrop of the Seventh Party Congress in 1991; the annibus mirablis of Vietnamese economic policy. The fiscal deficit was cut down from a peak of 7.5% to 1.5%, market reforms were entrenched, and growth begun. Crucial in this process was the full decollectivisation of farming and issuance of formal land title to households, the "red books" of Vietnam.

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• The Big Call

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• Capital Intensive China

  Are bullish developers dreaming?

• In Depth

  Vietnam and China trade brightens

• Funds Data

  China fund flows stall on signs of monetary tightening

• The Best of Chinese Commentators

  Which economic uncertainties loom largest?

  Raising the bank reserve requirement

• Macro View

  A Manichean polarity

• View issue