1.   Yet devaluing the dong is a two-edged sword.

2.   Exports are shrinking, foreign investors are committing less money than last year and unemployment is rising, along with pressure to devalue the dong.

3.   Instead of selling dollars after the dong was devalued Monday, people and businesses alike continued to hoard the U.S. currency in apparent expectation of further cuts.

4.   Many currency analysts have been urging Vietnam to devalue the dong to bring it more in line with other Southeast Asian currencies.

5.   The official said Friday that the Asian financial crisis appears to have added impetus for Vietnam, which has tried to resist devaluing the dong heavily.

6.   The State Bank of Vietnam earlier this month effectively devalued the dong, by expanding the trading band within which it can fluctuate against the dollar and other currencies.

7.   Vietnam became the latest casualty of the Southeast Asian currency crisis when the central bank announced Tuesday it had effectively devalued the dong.

8.   Vietnam has come under growing pressure to devalue the dong in line with other Southeast Asian countries.

9.   Vietnam has refused to heavily devalue the dong while most regional currencies have plunged over the last year.