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Inflation has unfair impact on poor, says finance minister
In the face of rising inflation, more needs to be done to help poor people, Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh said on December 27.
The minister was speaking with journalists on the sidelines of a conference to review implementation of the National Assembly’s programmes and resolutions on socio-economic development and the State budget estimation for next year.
There had been a sharp increase in the consumer price index this year, Ninh said. This was mainly due to rocketing petrol prices but the Government decided not to compensate for losses suffered by enterprises.
“If the Government keeps compensating for such losses, we would not be able to prevent oil from being smuggled across the border because domestic petrol prices are still lower than that of neighbouring countries,” he said.
Enterprises and the people needed to share the burden with the State in managing oil prices, he said.
He also attributed the price hike to the country’s dependence on imports.
“Our economy is not very stable and it still depends a lot on foreign raw materials. But the price of these materials can’t be forecast exactly so we find it hard to control increasing prices.”
Ninh admitted that the price hike, especially for household goods and foodstuffs, was leaving a lot of people out of pocket.
“But these increasing prices also positively affect businesses because they raise agro-product prices such as rice, coffee and pepper,” he said.
The Government had already worked out a series of solutions to help poor people deal with inflation, including exempting electricity bills for low-income people and those living in remote isolated areas. They have also helped fishermen by providing training and offering life insurance for their boats.
VNA
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