The World Bank said Vietnam still has a low risk of debt distress but warned that liabilities linked to state-owned enterprises are still a main source of uncertainty.
"Vietnam's public debt is likely to remain sustainable if the economic recovery continues and authorities remain on the current path of fiscal consolidation," the bank said in its East Asia and Pacific Economic Update on Wednesday.
"The largest source of uncertainty to debt sustainability comes from implicit obligations to state-owned enterprises, which are not captured under government and government-guaranteed debt statistics," it said, noting that the unavailability of a reliable estimate of such liabilities limits the government's ability to manage associated risks.
Economist Nguyen Quang A said that based on the public debt ratio of under 50 percent of GDP announced by the Ministry of Finance, Vietnam is in a better position than several other countries whose debts amount to 100-120 percent of GDP.
However, he said Vietnam's debts have expanded at a fast pace over the past four years and may reach a high-risk level in just a short time.
Vietnam aims to keep public debt below 65 percent of GDP through 2015.
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