Inflation returns to haunt a dollarised Vietnam

In the narrow alleys of Hanoi's Old Quarter, the proprietor of the gold shop looks to his left and right cagily before asking, "How much do you want?"

"You want $200,000, or $500,000? I can give you," he says.

The mood is somehow different these days in Ha Trung lane, Hanoi's money-changing hub. Back in June, crowds thronged the shops to discreetly change their dong, the Vietnamese currency, into U.S. dollars or gold as double-digit inflation stirred fears of an economic crisis.

Since then, authorities have come down hard on speculators. They tightened controls, raised interest rates and pulled the dong back from a precipitous fall...

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