The ratings on Vietnam reflect the country's low-income economy, its weak fiscal position, a developing monetary and financial framework, and the possibility that its evolving policy framework could weaken sovereign risk indicators.
The outlook revision also shows Standard & Poor's assessment of a reduction in the risks to macroeconomic and financial stability in Vietnam.
Key indicators such as credit growth, the level of foreign exchange reserves, and domestic currency interest rates have improved over the past 18 months.
"We expect Vietnam to maintain these improvements as the government has expressed its intention to keep price stability high on its policy priorities," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Kim Eng Tan.
The stable outlook on the ratings reflects our view that Vietnam will maintain an appropriately tight economic policy stance until there are clear signs of macroeconomic instability receding, including sustained single-digit rates of inflation. This would allow fiscal, external, and economic indicators to remain close to current levels or improve over the next two to three years./.
By Kim Anh