Monitor supply and demand, stabilize market prices, control inflation

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Closely monitor supply and demand movements to manage, stabilize prices and control inflation. Photo: H. Diu

Improve legal institutions on prices

Specifically, in Document 882/VPCP-KTTH dated February 10, 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai requested ministries, governmental agencies, local agencies and relevant agencies to comprehensively review, amend and improve the legal institutions on prices to ensure consistency and remove obstacles in implementation.

The targets are developing the Law on Prices (revised); focusing on reviewing legal regulations on prices and price assessment in specialized laws before issuing new ones, ensuring that there are no overlapping or conflicting regulations with the Law on Prices; and closely monitoring world economic developments, general inflation, price movements of fuels and strategic materials to promptly respond to domestic production management, balance supply-demand and issue appropriate import and export policies in order to support price management to control domestic inflation from the start of 2022.

Strengthen price listing

The Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries, governmental agencies, local agencies and relevant agencies to closely monitor supply and demand movements and market prices of important and essential commodities to take appropriate measures to manage and stablise prices; proactively to remove difficulties for production, business, circulation and distribution of goods; promptly meet people’s needs, especially during the holidays and New Year, in areas affected by natural disasters, storms and floods, isolated and blocked areas.

At the same time, step up the implementation of price declaration, price listing and disclose information on price; guide authorities to proactively make plans to speed up and strengthen inspection of the compliance with laws on price management and strictly handle violations.

Work with the Ministry of Finance and the General Statistics Office on reviewing and developing solutions to adjusting the prices of goods managed by the State, assessing the impact on socio-economic development, the price level, and prepare conditions on policies and legal documents to have appropriate management plans, especially for essential consumer goods and public services according to the market route. The price adjustment of State-managed goods should be completed in months with low CPI increases to limit inflation expectations.

Actively manage the fiscal policy, closely coordinate with the flexible monetary policy to create harmony and efficiency with general macroeconomic policies; thereby removing difficulties for production, business and lives of Covid-19-hit people, controlling core inflation and creating a basis for general inflation control.

Continue to promote information and communication on policies and measures to stabilize prices, control inflation, stabilize the macro-economy, ensure social security, contributing to creating consensus in society to minimize the impact of price increases caused by psychological factors and inflation expectations.

Flexible fuel price management

The Deputy Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to continue to closely work with the Ministry of Finance to manage fuel prices flexibly, ensuring that domestic fuel prices reflect and closely follow the world prices; use the price stabilization fund reasonably, contributing to controlling inflation, supporting production and business activities and people's lives, stabilizing the market and domestic fuel supply and demand.

Study and develop an electricity price plan in 2022 on the basis of a thorough assessment of input costs (especially coal and gas for electricity production), a plan for supply and operation of the national electricity system, assess the results of investigation of costs of electricity production and business in 2020, estimated electricity production and business results in 2021, estimated costs in 2022 and other expenses that have not yet been included in the electricity price to report to the Deputy Prime Minister. Coal producers and traders for electricity production are responsible for discussing and agreeing with the buyer and declaring prices in accordance with regulations.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade directed the local Departments of Industry and Trade to develop a market stabilization program, requiring distribution, wholesale and retail businesses to step up the development of a market stabilization program for pork; and requested Market Surveillance to work with relevant authorities to strengthen inspection and supervision of the activities of pork traders to avoid speculation and profiteering.

Ensure supply and stabilize the market

The Deputy Prime Minister also requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to closely monitor the pandemic situation, the production situation of livestock products (especially pork products), and consumption demand to promptly provide guidance to ensure supply and stabilize the market, especially during holidays and the New Year.

Enterprises need to closely monitor the market movements of raw materials for animal feed production in the country and the world to have a plan to buy and reserve raw materials, for production, and avoid shortages upon the price hike.

The Ministry of Construction is required to coordinate with ministries and sectors to strengthen monitoring and updating of construction material price fluctuations in order to promptly propose measures to stabilize the materials market. The ministries are required to promote the increase of domestic production capacity and prioritize supply to the domestic market.

The Ministry of Health is asked to urgently review and promulgate economic and technical norms as a basis for adjusting prices of medical examination and treatment services; evaluate and choose an appropriate time to add management and amortization costs into service prices according to the market roadmap; assume the prime responsibility and submitting to the Government a list of specific products and measures to stabilize prices and implement the price stabilization of medical equipment in accordance with the law on prices; strengthen the review of declared drug prices, re-declare, and publicize information on declared medicine prices and winning bids in accordance with the Law on Pharmacy; closely monitor the pandemic to ensure adequate supply at reasonable prices to serve the needs of medical examination and treatment and disease and disaster prevention and control.

The Ministry of Transport is required to strengthen the inspection and supervision of the declaration and listing of prices and the sale of tickets at the listed prices for transport business units; continue to monitor the pandemic situation, and review fluctuations in input costs for services managed by the Ministry of Transport.

The Ministry of Education and Training is requested to develop a scenario for education service prices in 2022 and work with the General Statistics Office to calculate and evaluate the adjustment and impact on CPI.

For textbooks under the new ordinary education program, the Ministry of Education and Training is required to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to strictly review the plan for declaring the prices of textbooks for grades 3, 7 and 10 and to soon complete regulations on standards, compilation and editions of textbooks, economic and technical norms in the compilation.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is required to coordinate with ministries and governmental agencies to focus on perfecting the land law, closely monitor credit for the real estate sector, strengthen the inspection of the implementation of regulations on land in general and land prices in particular so that the real estate market develops sustainably, and publicize information about master plans of land use and roadmaps of project implementation in accordance with the law.

Strictly handle spreading false information

The Ministry of Information and Communications is required to coordinate with ministries, governmental agencies and localities to proactively promote information on policies and measures of price stabilization, ensure supply and demand of necessities, control inflation; strictly handle acts of spreading false information, confusing the public.

Ministries and governmental agencies closely coordinate with press agencies in providing accurate and official information on the price of commodities under their management in order to promptly transmit to people and control expected inflation.

The Ministry of Finance is assigned to monitor and summarize the implementation of the contents; continue to update the price situation in the months before and after Tet to perfect and adjust the price management scenarios, report to the Deputy Prime at the meeting of the Price Management Steering Committee in the first quarter of 2022 in accordance with the Operation Regulation of the Price Management Steering Committee.