From July 1, the basic salary of cadres, civil servants and public employees will be adjusted and increased from Dong 1.49 million to Dong 1.8 million (an increase of 20.8%). In addition to rejoicing at the wage increase after four years of waiting, people are concerned about the prices of commodities, particularly essential commodities such as food and groceries, which have the potential to “lose water with the rain.”

At the press conference for regular information on Ho Chi Minh City’s industry and trade in the second quarter of 2023, Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the city Implementation implements many programs aimed at stabilizing and reducing prices. In-depth promotions to limit the increase in commodity prices according to the salary increase.

“Currently, there is information that the prices of some items on the market are increasing with increasing wages. However, according to economic laws, increasing wages cannot increase commodity prices,” Phuong said.

According to the city’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, some small traders are actually still raising the prices of goods because the prices of goods in the market depend on the amount of goods that traders prepare during the day and the purchases made by customers at each trader’s day. Time.

Therefore, in order to prevent commodity prices from rising in line with wage prices, the city has implemented a series of price stabilization measures from the first months of 2023 to boost consumer demand, promote retail activities and support the recovery of economic growth. This helps prevent the “wave” of rising prices as wages rise and alleviates some of people’s concerns.

In addition, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented a targeted promotional program in 2023, which will run for three months until the end of September 15, 2023. About 3,000 companies participate in the program and more than 7,000 promotional activities are carried out. Retailers have launched a number of discount programs for consumer essentials, particularly groceries and grocery products; to support and share part of the consumer spending burden.

In addition, from July 1 to December 31, 2023, the government’s policy of reducing Value Added Tax (VAT) by 2% from 10% to 8% will be officially applied to the commodity groups of goods and services. This adjustment helps reduce the cost of production for businesses, reduce sales prices, and reduce costs in the daily consumption of goods and services.

In the past period, Ho Chi Minh City’s industry and commerce has implemented many solutions to boost retail trade and domestic consumption and create a growth engine for the economy, such as the launch of the “Vietnamese give the use of goods priority in Vietnam”; Cooperation programs between Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces and cities to bring goods into domestic and overseas distribution systems; Implementation of the concentrated advertising program – shopping season “Shopping Season”; Implementing provincial and urban market stabilization programs to ensure that essential goods always reach the people.

However, according to economists, people’s demand for goods and services is expected to increase between now and the end of the year, which may lead to an increase in goods prices and the risk of inflation.

To prevent this situation, the city must actively carry out state management of essential goods and services, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Ho Chi Minh City. It is about ensuring a plentiful supply of goods and balancing supply and demand in the market. prevent hoarding, speculation and unreasonable price increases; Controlling the declaration and publication of prices in retail stores; Strictly deal with violations of the prices of goods and services.