Taking Stock, July 2020 : What Will Be the New Normal for Vietnam? The Economic Impact of COVID-19

As of early July 2020, life in Hanoi appears to be back to normal or close to what it used to be before the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. The government’s policy helped contain the virus and contributed to saving human lives. Today, most social...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: World Bank
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Hanoi 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/101991595365511590/Taking-Stock-What-will-be-the-New-Normal-for-Vietnam-The-Economic-Impact-of-COVID-19
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34268
id okr-10986-34268
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-342682021-05-25T09:52:42Z Taking Stock, July 2020 : What Will Be the New Normal for Vietnam? The Economic Impact of COVID-19 World Bank ECONOMIC GROWTH CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC RECESSION PANDEMIC RESPONSE RISK MANAGEMENT As of early July 2020, life in Hanoi appears to be back to normal or close to what it used to be before the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. The government’s policy helped contain the virus and contributed to saving human lives. Today, most social distancing measures have been lifted. However, this rapid return to normality may prove to be illusory. Several economic and financial indicators have not yet bounced back to their precrisis levels, including the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate that, at 1.8 percent in the first semester of 2020, was approximately 5 percentage points lower than its historical trajectory during recent years. The pandemic has also left indelible scars, especially on people and businesses that were the least prepared for such a shock. A closer look at the streets of Hanoi reveals that some hotels and shops remain closed, while others have simply disappeared. This report argues that Vietnam should not envision a return to the old normal, but rather should define what will be the new normal as the pandemic has changed in so many ways how people live, work, and communicate. The new normal for Vietnam will depend on many factors, but it will be to a large extent shaped by the way the government manages the exit of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the country will operate in a world with a great deal of domestic and international uncertainty for the foreseeable future, new drivers of growth will be required, including a new role for fiscal policy. Yet, by being ahead of the curve, Vietnam has a unique opportunity to increase its footprint in the world economy and to push ahead with its agenda of reforms so it can accelerate its quest to become a high-income economy in the foreseeable future. 2020-08-03T15:48:14Z 2020-08-03T15:48:14Z 2020-07 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/101991595365511590/Taking-Stock-What-will-be-the-New-Normal-for-Vietnam-The-Economic-Impact-of-COVID-19 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34268 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Hanoi Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Economic Updates and Modeling East Asia and Pacific Vietnam
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ECONOMIC GROWTH
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
ECONOMIC RECESSION
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
RISK MANAGEMENT
spellingShingle ECONOMIC GROWTH
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
ECONOMIC RECESSION
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
RISK MANAGEMENT
World Bank
Taking Stock, July 2020 : What Will Be the New Normal for Vietnam? The Economic Impact of COVID-19
geographic_facet East Asia and Pacific
Vietnam
description As of early July 2020, life in Hanoi appears to be back to normal or close to what it used to be before the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. The government’s policy helped contain the virus and contributed to saving human lives. Today, most social distancing measures have been lifted. However, this rapid return to normality may prove to be illusory. Several economic and financial indicators have not yet bounced back to their precrisis levels, including the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate that, at 1.8 percent in the first semester of 2020, was approximately 5 percentage points lower than its historical trajectory during recent years. The pandemic has also left indelible scars, especially on people and businesses that were the least prepared for such a shock. A closer look at the streets of Hanoi reveals that some hotels and shops remain closed, while others have simply disappeared. This report argues that Vietnam should not envision a return to the old normal, but rather should define what will be the new normal as the pandemic has changed in so many ways how people live, work, and communicate. The new normal for Vietnam will depend on many factors, but it will be to a large extent shaped by the way the government manages the exit of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the country will operate in a world with a great deal of domestic and international uncertainty for the foreseeable future, new drivers of growth will be required, including a new role for fiscal policy. Yet, by being ahead of the curve, Vietnam has a unique opportunity to increase its footprint in the world economy and to push ahead with its agenda of reforms so it can accelerate its quest to become a high-income economy in the foreseeable future.
format Report
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title Taking Stock, July 2020 : What Will Be the New Normal for Vietnam? The Economic Impact of COVID-19
title_short Taking Stock, July 2020 : What Will Be the New Normal for Vietnam? The Economic Impact of COVID-19
title_full Taking Stock, July 2020 : What Will Be the New Normal for Vietnam? The Economic Impact of COVID-19
title_fullStr Taking Stock, July 2020 : What Will Be the New Normal for Vietnam? The Economic Impact of COVID-19
title_full_unstemmed Taking Stock, July 2020 : What Will Be the New Normal for Vietnam? The Economic Impact of COVID-19
title_sort taking stock, july 2020 : what will be the new normal for vietnam? the economic impact of covid-19
publisher World Bank, Hanoi
publishDate 2020
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/101991595365511590/Taking-Stock-What-will-be-the-New-Normal-for-Vietnam-The-Economic-Impact-of-COVID-19
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34268
_version_ 1764480539781234688