Data published in Vietnam over the next few days should confirm that the economy expanded at a rapid pace in Q4 but inflation remains far too high. What’s more, recent debt downgrades have highlighted the governance problems in state-owned enterprises and the increased uncertainty over whether the central government will support companies which get into trouble. The pressure to correct policies looks unstoppable. We expect that Vietnam will respond once a leadership reshuffle has been pushed through at the mid-January National Party Congress.