Vietnamese PM admits mismanaging economy

Vietnam’s embattled prime minister acknowledged on Monday that he had mismanaged the country’s slumping economy, and he pledged to push forward with difficult reforms of bloated state-owned enterprises.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the remarks at the opening of the national assembly, three-quarters of the way through what is turning out to be a rough year for a Southeast Asian nation once touted as an emerging “tiger” economy.

As foreign ambassadors looked on from the balcony, Dung was able to claim credit for stabilising inflation, but listed a series of economic failings.

“There are enormous challenges,” he said to the 500 parliamentarians, more than 90 per cent of whom are members of the Communist Party. “Public dissatisfaction persists.”

The growth of Vietnam’s once-booming economy has slowed to around 5 per cent this year. It has been dragged down by the country’s corruption-prone and inefficient state-owned industries, which have borrowed heavily from banks and have been unable to turn a profit.

With credit drying up within the country, businesses have been unable to invest, and the global economic slowdown has taken its toll on exports.