Price stability is the name of the game

Weather effects

At the August meeting of the Working Group on Domestic Market, Nguyen Loc An, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Domestic Market Department, said rainstorms in the northern mountainous provinces increased food prices in August. At the same time, prices of oil and petrol, gas, construction steel and other materials soared compared to price levels in foreign markets. The price of school supplies also increased ahead of the 2017-2018 academic year.

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO), in the first eight months of this year, total retail sales of goods and service revenues reached more than VND2.58 trillion, up 10.26 percent from the same period of 2016.

According to Vu Thi Thanh Thuy from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO)’s Price Statistics Department, increases in pork and vegetable prices were partly responsible for a 0.92 percent surge in the August consumer price index (CPI) compared to July. The CPI in the first eight months of 2017 grew 3.84 percent, higher than at the same time in 2016 but lower than the four-percent growth target set by the National Assembly.

The CPI growth decreased from 4.47 percent in the first five months to 4.15 percent in the first half, 3.9 percent in the first seven months, and 3.84 percent in the first eight months of this year. This is a good signal and proves that the CPI is being controlled effectively, said Nguyen Duc Thang from the Statistics Association.

Tight control

The Working Group on Domestic Market forecast that from now to the end of the year, the goods market will be influenced by such factors as rains, the new school year, potential increases in the price of some materials, potential changes in the cost of health and education services, and the growing demand for goods.

Vu Thi Thanh Thuy from the GSO’s Price Statistics Department said health service costs for people without health insurance increased in 17 provinces in August, and would increase in another 13 provinces in September, placing additional strain on the CPI.

The Working Group on Domestic Market recommended that local authorities prepare sources of goods to ensure sufficient supply in the remaining months of the years and during the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.