Vietnam thaws after credit freeze

Investors are returning to Vietnam as higher rates of lending restore confidence in the economy.

Vietnam's economy has begun "to heat up again after a long and often painful thaw", says James Hookway in The Wall Street Journal. Investors have noticed: the VN Index has gained 16% this year.

Annual growth has averaged 7% for the past two decades. But after 2009, a Chinese-style, state-mandated lending spree to compensate for weak exports began to take its toll. Careless lending damaged banks and prompted a credit squeeze. GDP is now expanding at an annual pace of just over 5%.

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