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Fuel, salaries push prices up
A Tuoi Tre investigation found common household items at Ho Chi Minh City markets rose by up to 18 percent over the past month, although official figures indicate overall prices increased by less than 1 percent.
Bui Hanh Thu, deputy director of the Coop Mart supermarket chain, said many manufacturers had recently informed her of price increases, a result of their higher fuel and salary costs and the lower value of the dong.
Producers proposed retail price increases of between 2 percent and 18 percent, Thu said.
The dong-dollar exchange rate is now around VND18,000, while two months ago the rate was around VND16,000 for one U.S. dollar. The government has raised retail fuel prices three times since early April, with a liter of A92, the most popular type of gasoline, now costing VND12,500 (70 cents).
A Tuoi Tre survey of HCMC markets on Tuesday found the price of vegetables, rice, meat and fish, shampoo and beauty products all increased.
A half-kilogram bunch of rau muống (water spinach) was priced at VND5,000 (30 US cents) at Ba Chieu market in Binh Thanh District.
Other vegetables were being sold at a similar price – about 10 percent more than last month.
A kilogram of tomatoes at Ba Chieu market was VND8,000 (45 cents), although at the wholesale market Tam Binh in Thu Duc District a kilogram of tomatoes was only VND2,000 (11 cents).
The increase in prices is the result of the government’s $1 billion stimulus package, which has increased consumer spending, said Dinh Son Hung, deputy head of the HCMC Institute for Development and Research.
When consumption increases, manufacturers can produce more good and raise prices, Hung said.
The HCMC branch of the General Statistics Office said prices in HCMC rose 0.58% in May from a month earlier, faster than the monthly CPI of 0.35% recorded in April.
Nhu Binh
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