In its final press release of the year, Vietnam’s General Statistics Office announced that in 2008 the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) had crossed the symbolically important threshold of US$1,000 per capita.1 Although still low by ASEAN and wider Asian standards, average incomes have risen nearly fourfold since 1989 at current exchange rates and three times at purchasing power parity exchange rates. According to official figures, the percentage of the population living on less than US$1 per day had fallen from more than 60 to less than 12 per cent over the same period.2 Despite the attainment of this important milestone, 2008 was a gloomy year for Vietnam’s
economy. Although output grew by a respectable 6.2 per cent, domestic commentators focused on the drop in performance relative to the 8.5 per cent rate recorded in 2007 and the failure to reach even the government’s adjusted growth target of 6.7 per cent.
đang được dịch, vui lòng đợi..
