Like many Asian economies, Vietnam escaped the worst of the economic downturn, thanks in part to stimulative monetary and fiscal policies adopted in late 2008 and 2009. The Vietnamese economy posted growth rates in inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) of 5.32% in 2009 and 6.78% in 2010. The brisk pace of growth was spurred largely by a 25.5% surge in merchandise exports to $71.6bn and a surge of gross capital investment to 41.9% of nominal GDP.
However, this apparent success sowed the seeds for the country's present difficulties, with Vietnam now grappling with a hefty deficit of $12.4bn and, despite continued strong inflows of foreign equity and portfolio investment, a balance of payments deficit of $4.6bn, according to the State Bank of Vietnam. Moreover, the government’s budget deficit stood at 5.6% of nominal GDP, a substantial shortfall even though it was officially lower than the 6.9% figure of the previous year, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.
