What’s in a number
Quite a lot if you are the Vietnamese government intent on achieving 6.7% GDP growth.
It did not manage to hit its target in 2016, but is well on course to do so in 2017, with third quarter growth hitting 7.5%.
The problem is that Vietnam appears to be achieving its ambitions by accelerating credit growth to levels many observers believe is too high.
In the first 10 months, the ratio hit 13.5%, which does not appear that high in the context of the historical averages, which have ranged in the high teens. However, in August, the...