Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked government agencies to stay cautious and active in inflation and price management policy to aid the dual target of both containing the Covid-19 pandemic and boosting economic recovery.

Vietnam PM urges a cautious approach in controlling the inflation. Photo: Pham Hung.

Prime Minister Phuc, who also heads the government’s Steering Committee on Price Management, gave the remarks in a directive released on January 27, saying the priority is to continue addressing difficulties for the business community by stabilizing market prices, particularly basic necessities with high demand during the festive period.

“Local authorities should enhance supervision over market situation for timely intervention,” he noted.

“Such move, if needed, should be in line with market-based principles and the goal of stabilizing macro-economic conditions,” stressed the Prime Minister.

Mr. Phuc requested government agencies, provinces and cities to review overlapping laws and regulations in price management policy to enhance efficiency of state management in this regard.

“Each city and province are responsible to stockpile sufficient supplies of goods and products to meet consumers’ demand ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, especially those in the central region that were heavily affected by natural disasters,” stated Mr. Phuc.

According to Mr. Phuc, efforts are needed to better analyze and forecast market supply-demand and prices, including drafting price management scenarios per month, quarter and year to control inflation efficiently.

“The core inflation rate should be kept below 2.5% in 2021 to create room for overall price management,” asserted Mr. Phuc.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is tasked with managing the price of petroleum products in a flexible manner and follow the market mechanism, while setting up different options for electricity prices in 2021.

The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development will closely monitor pork prices and supply, especially before and during the Tet holiday.