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City policies drive inflation down
Stable prices and reduced hoarding of several essential commodities are among initial results gained by HCM City after three months of implementing the Government's Resolution 11, a review meeting heard Tuesday.
Resolution 11 was issued to curb inflation, stabilise the macro-economy and ensure social security.
The municipal administration reported at the meeting that strict controls had been maintained in price management, helping stabilise prices and reduce speculative hoarding of commodities.
The city had added medicines, powdered milk and education supplies to its list of goods covered by its price stabilisation programme, the meeting was told.
The programme had also expanded its distribution network to traditional markets, residential areas, industrial parks and export processing zones, officials said at the meeting.
Furthermore, district administrations were able to obtain commitments from 60,000 landlords that they would not increase rents on 400,000 rooms until the end of this year, benefiting more than a million low-income workers and students.
The city has cut public spending and investments, saving more than 10 per cent in regular public expenditure.
Implementing Resolution 11 had helped reduce the gap between the official and black market foreign exchange rates, the meeting heard.
Nguyen Van Dung, deputy director of the State Bank of Viet Nam's HCM City Branch, said commercial banks had never been able to buy a large amount of US <$> as at present.
Since the official and black market exchange rates were nearly on par with each other, more people were selling their foreign currencies to commercial banks, he said.
Representatives of many companies reported at the meeting that they had taken several measures to mobilise capital, restructure production, and invest in advanced equipment and technologies to increase product competitiveness.
They had also taken steps to provide better working conditions for their employees, the company reps said.
Companies that have more than 50 workers on their payroll have increased salaries by VND100,000-250,000 a month and provided additional monthly allowances to subsidise rising food and house rentals.
Huynh Van Minh, chairman of the HCM City Enterprises Association, said that several enterprises had responded to higher interest rates by mobilising capital from their employees.
The Sai Gon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (Samco), for instance, had mobilised nearly VND20 billion by issuing bonds to its employees, he said.
The Ben Thanh Corporation has borrowed loans directly from its employees with an interest rate of 16 per cent a year, higher than bank depositing rates but lower than bank lending rates.
Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the city People's Committee, said these measures by enterprises had provided livelihood security for employees and create strong employer-employee connections to help overcome difficult times.
He asked departments and agencies at all levels to continue strengthening their market management and price stabilisation functions and keep a close watch on trading in foreign currencies.
Departments and agencies had to monitor enterprises'production activities closely to provide prompt assistance when they faced difficulties, he said. Quan also asked agencies to strengthen efforts to ensure sufficient power supply for all sectors.
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