Vietnam is fully capable of keeping inflation below 4% targeted for this year, according to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the meeting. Source: VGP.

The government is determined to maintain high economic growth and stabilize market prices, Phuc said a meeting of the Steering Committee on Price Management on April 21.

According to the General Statistics Office, with the current prices of liveweight hog at VND80,000 – 90,000 (US$3.4 – 3.83) per kilogram, the retail prices range from VND145,000 to VND165,000 (US$6.17–7.02) per kilogram, with intermediary costs accounting for 70 – 90% of the price.

A reshuffle of the distribution network, therefore, could reduce pork prices significantly, stated the agency.

Referring to the pork prices, PM Phuc requested more measures to keep the liveweight hog price below VND60,000 (US$2.55) per kilogram.

So far, Vietnam has imported over 45,000 tons of pork. Phuc said the country could continue to import pork in a bid to balance the supply-demand in both short- and longs terms.

Stability in prices of basic necessities and a reduction in prices of electricity and water would help relieve pressures for the business community and people during the Covid-19 pandemic, Phuc said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Planning and Investment assured all government support packages worth VND636 trillion (US$27.08 billion), or 10% of the GDP, would not affect the consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation.

Sharing a similar view to the government, Chief Economist of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) Pham The Anh said at an online workshop that the inflationary pressure for Vietnam is low this year as a result of a low level of private consumption and disposable income.

Although the CPI expanded 5.56% year-on-year in the first quarter, it is possible that inflation will stay below the 4% target this year, given the state’s efficient management of food prices, Anh added.