ABSTRACT
Viet Nam, with an estimated per capita income of less than US$200 (ADB 1990) is one of the poorest countries in Asia. It has a rapidly growing population and for most of the 1980s the growth of population exceeded that of food grain production. The country has a severe debt problem with a debt-service ratio of over 60 per cent. The situation can only be aggravated by the recent termination of Soviet bloc assistance in the form of direct aid, subsidized imports repayable in roubles and preferential treatment in markets. The chronic shortage of foreign exchange since 1975 has left the physical infrastructure dangerously run down. Added to this is the legacy of a financial and economic institutional infrastructure created for a system of tight planning and centrally-administered resource allocation. This structure is accompanied by specific development management skills which are also now inappropriate.
