Galloping consumer prices -- fuelled by record global oil, food and commodity costs -- have rocked many countries, but few have been hit harder than Vietnam, where inflation topped 27 percent year-on-year in July.
For many people here the surging cost of living is the first real economic setback since the communist country emerged from the lean post-war years of hyper inflation and food queues to enjoy 15 years of solid economic growth.
"Now I feel like my money is being stolen every day," said Tran Ngoc Duong, 30, a Hanoi state employee and mother of one. "I spend about one third more than I did last year when I go shopping for my family.
"
More than 90 percent of Vietnamese now worry about high food prices, according to a recent survey by market research firm Nielsen, which listed people's other top concerns as high petrol prices and their children's well-being.
The survey, released Friday, also found that, while people remained optimistic about the future, 60 percent said they w