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Trade sector moves to stabilise commodity prices in H2
The Ministry of Industry and Trade on Thursday worked with the city's trade officials on a plan to stabilise commodity prices in the second half of the year, according to a trade official.
The city should have a sufficient stock of essential commodities to meet consumers' demands and stabilise prices in the coming months, said Hoang Tho Xuan, head of the ministry's Domestic Market Department.
Truong Trung Viet, deputy director of the city's Department of Industry and Trade, has met with several businesses and companies to outline a plan to reserve commodities for the last months of the year, especially during the traditional Tet festival, which marks the nation's biggest shopping spree.
Under the plan, businesses participating in the city's price stabilisation programme will be allocated interest rate free loans of VND348.1 billion (US$21.7 million) to buy commodities for stock or promote production of daily essentials.
The businesses also need to expand retail networks to sell commodities at officially set prices.
The Sai Gon Trade Corporation, the Sai Gon Agricultural Corporation and Sai Gon Co-op will receive nearly VND300 billion to buy essential foods.
With the State capital supply, they plan to sell daily essentials like rice, meat, processed food, cooking oil and sugar at 5-10 per cent lower than the market price.
Viet said the city's Department of Industry and Trade will coordinate with relevant agencies to prevent speculation of goods to curb sudden price fluctuations.
Prices of several commodities, especially food, recently dropped 5-15 per cent as a result of the Government's stringent measures to control inflation, he said.
In an effort to stabilise prices, the city has ordered relevant agencies to continue monitoring prices of ten commodities essential for production and daily use, including food, gasoline, fertilizers, medicine, steel, cement, coal, salt, sugar and paper.
Local businesses are urged to sell goods at State prices. Earlier officials decided against raising prices of certain essentials like petrol, electricity, bus fares and hospital fees until the end of the year to fight inflation.
Trade officials said this month the ministry will issue a decree on fighting speculation, hoarding goods and disseminating false information to jack up prices. Such misdeeds will be severely punished to ensure adequate supply of goods at reliable prices.
VNS
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