Currently, besides preparing a sufficient supply, many supermarkets and markets are also committed to reducing and stabilizing the prices of essential items.
Ms. Phan Thi Thang, Vice Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, on October 21, chaired the seminar on 20 years of practice and solutions to improve the effectiveness of the market stabilization program in HCMC, with the attendance of experts, scientists, the business community, HCMC departments, agencies, and leaders of neighboring localities.
The prices of some consumer goods and fresh food for sale at small and spontaneous points of sale in Ho Chi Minh City have started to hike in the past few days. Sellers explained that freight costs started to climb, so the increase in selling price was inevitable. Meanwhile, large supermarkets and trade centers confirmed that they still run many promotions and offer deep discounts to support consumers.
On the occasion of the Reunification Day and the International Labor Day and to stimulate consumer demand, the network of trade centers and supermarkets have simultaneously launched attractive promotional programs with high discounts from April 28.
The prices of many items, such as fruits, vegetables, cooking oil, and fresh milk, at retail points of sale and markets on March 21 increased by 15-40 percent compared to before the 2022 Lunar New Year. Delivery service also added a surcharge of VND5,000-VND15,000 per order. Meanwhile, at supermarkets and wholesale markets, prices of commodities remained stable.
The ministries of Industry and Trade and Finance, on the afternoon of March 1, allowed fuel enterprises to increase the domestic retail prices of gasoline. Accordingly, E5 RON92 gasoline rose by VND547 per liter to a maximum price of VND26,077 per liter; RON95 gasoline price surged by VND554 per liter to a maximum of VND26,834 per liter. It is the sixth consecutive increase and the fifth increase in a row in 2022. Along with an increase in gas prices, the fact that gasoline prices continued to climb has put pressure on food products, consumer services, and transport.
Since the Tet holiday, the prices of some products in Ho Chi Minh City have started to increase, especially after gasoline prices exceeded VND25,000 per liter.
From the beginning of January to now, the wholesale markets of Hoc Mon, Thu Duc, Binh Dien have received 2,600 tons, 1,600 tons, and 1,500 tons of goods per day, respectively. Thereby, prices of food and fresh goods have declined by about 20 percent.
Although the purchasing power is not expected to hike suddenly during this Lunar New Year, Ho Chi Minh City has been ready to supply tens of thousands of tons of food and foodstuff products every day to ensure consumer demand before, during, and after the Tet holiday.
Unlike previous years, manufacturing enterprises do not have much time to prepare for the Lunar New Year because all of them have just gone through a difficult period due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic. However, with positive signals of the market, enterprises are striving to increase output, as well as implement safe production solutions, so that the progress of supplying goods to the market for the Tet holiday will not be affected.
There are nearly two months left until the Lunar New Year, but now the retail system has planned to stock up on goods for the peak shopping season, focusing on food and foodstuffs.
The high gasoline prices (the highest level in the past seven years) have put pressure and affected many production and business activities of businesses and people. Over the past week, many types of goods, food, and services in Ho Chi Minh City have also rushed to raise their prices.
Ho Chi Minh City authorities have urged businesses to ensure supply of essential goods and necessities and offer promotion programs for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday while following pandemic prevention measures.
On November 8, the prices of goods at some points of sale and traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City were recorded to have increased compared to a few months ago. Accordingly, prices of vegetables, meat, and fish surged by VND3,000-VND15,000 per kg, depending on the type.
After Ho Chi Minh City has reopened to operate in the new normal state for more than a month, the purchasing power has still dropped sharply compared to normal days. Despite weak purchasing power, prices of some products still surge by 10-15 percent.
Although the supply of goods has been increasing, strangely, traders have to move out of the market to be able to sell their goods. The reason is that more and more spontaneous markets mushroom around the market areas and buyers are reluctant to go inside the market because of strict Covid-19 prevention and control regulations.
HCMC since October 01 has been deploying welfare packages worth US$323 million in total meant for 7.3 million citizens along with other support programs, bringing about positive changes in local communities.
Most of the traditional markets have been urgently planning to resume operations. Meanwhile, the purchasing power in the supermarket system has dropped sharply because people did not buy and hoard goods as before.