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Fearing price increases, people rushing to hoard commodities
People are rushing to buy commodities for fear that prices will skyrocket after June 30. They are making things difficult for themselves, and for the national economy.
Nhu Anh in Hoang Mai district in Hanoi took her child to the supermart last Sunday to buy consumer products for a 3-member family. Though she was busy taking care of the child, she still decided to pick up a lot of things from the supermart’s shelves: two 5-litre cans of vegetable oil, two 5kg boxes of detergent, and a lot of other commodities, from food, cosmetics to clothes.
Anh said that the two 5-litre cans of vegetable oil can are enough for her family until next year, while the purchased detergent is enough for four months.
Mrs Son’s family in Dai Kim residential quarter has three adults and one child. Several days ago, she asked a relative in the countryside to buy 200kg of rice for her, because rice was cheaper in the countryside than in Hanoi. Son believes that the 200kg of rice will be enough for her family for several months, and she will not be too worried about the possible price increases anymore.
Son not only bought rice, she bought eggs, sugar, instant noodles, detergent and milk for the child, so as to, as she said, ‘protect themselves in the price storm’.
Anh related that her colleagues at a state owned hospital in Thanh Tri district all are rushing to hoard commodities. They believe that prices will go up further as there is no sign of them decreasing.
It seems that Vietnamese people have resumed their habit of storing up consumer products which they did in the subsidisation period. On one hand, they are trying to tighten their belts, and on the other hand, they are trying to buy as many commodities as possible, which will help them survive the price storm.
Meanwhile, experts say that people should not be overly worried about the price increases, and that they should learn from the rice episode that occurred one month ago. When the rice price increased a little, people rushed to buy rice and then regretted buying rice when the prices dropped sharply.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has released a report, which says that there will not be any big price increases in June. The rice price will be stabilised or see a little increase in the Cuu Long River Delta, if rice exporters are allowed to sign new export contracts.
The cement price fever in the south has been stamped out as 74,000 tonnes of cement has been carried from the north to the south.
Associate Prof Dr Ngo Tri Long of the Ministry of Finance said that the price increases have been affecting all people, but state employees and poor people will be the biggest sufferers. Westerners say inflation is a kind of tax that deals the strongest blow to the poorest people. Therefore, he said, the government needs to push up social welfare policies in order to help poor people to struggle through the price storm.
In a recent report, ADB also warned that high inflation will reduce the purchasing power of the poor people and badly affect economic growth.
VNN
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