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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