According to the General Statistics Office, total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased by 10.9% in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period last year (down from the 12.2% increase in the previous year). up 12.2% in 2022.

At the same time, revenue from accommodation and catering services increased by 18.7%, tourism revenue increased by 65.9%, and retail sales of goods increased by 9.3% (food and food products increased by 9.3%). 13.5%; Clothing rose 9.5%; Culture and educational products increased by 9.3%, home appliances, tools and equipment increased by 4%, transportation (other than cars) increased by 2.5%.

The size of the total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the first six months of 2023 is estimated at VND3,016.7 trillion, exceeding that of the first six months of 2022 (reaching VND2,7149.8 trillion), showing the strength of the economy shows. The demand on the domestic market is greater.

“The domestic market therefore continues to be a bright spot for aggregate demand recovery and economic development, ensuring our country’s social security in the first six months of the year,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

Internal demand is far less

According to estimates by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the first six months of 2023, despite a larger volume, is slowing down and lower than in the same period last year. 9% compared to an increase of 12.2% in the same period last year).

The overall commercial infrastructure is still weak and outdated, especially in the rural market area, resulting in high intermediate costs for businesses and households due to the distribution and consumption network. Raw materials and complex finished goods.

The reason given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade is that the domestic economy has been badly affected by the epidemic and needs time to recover, while the economy is very open and heavily influenced by external factors.

In addition, the implementation of the economic stimulus package and the introduction of business support packages have not yet affected the resilience of the corporate sector, especially manufacturing companies, in a timely manner. Response to external shocks is sometimes passive and inflexible. Not active in assessing, forecasting the situation, researching and proposing policy.

In some cases, sometimes they have not kept up with reality. In the context of the world economic and political situation, in particular, strategic competition between great powers, the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to be complicated …

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, director-general of the General Bureau of Statistics, household consumption grew quite slowly (2.68%) in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 due to difficulties in the domestic economy, leading to a lower income resulted in expensive. People’s incomes went down. This shows that domestic demand is quite weak.

“Against the backdrop of a slump in global demand due to the dual impact of the epidemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine causing domestic manufacturing difficulties, weak domestic demand will hurt economic growth,” Huong said.

In order to support aggregate demand, the government needs to take a number of stimulus measures simultaneously, using a flexible combination of fiscal and monetary policies.

Accordingly, implement tax reductions, exemptions and deferrals; Reduce charges such as: Value added tax (VAT) is reduced by 2% for groups of goods and services subject to the 10% VAT rate. These policies will directly benefit people as they lower the cost of consuming goods and services that serve people’s lives.

For businesses, the VAT cut will help reduce production costs, lower product costs, helping businesses increase resilience and expand production and business, creating more jobs for businesses.

The reduction in VAT has three main effects: it not only contributes to GDP growth, but also helps to reduce inflationary pressures and support less restrictive monetary policy. In addition to the VAT reduction policy, the government also expanded the payment of VAT, corporate income tax, income tax and land rent in 2023.

IMPLEMENTING A SERIES OF DEMAND SOLUTIONS

Ms. Huong expects a series of synchronous fiscal and monetary policy solutions to greatly improve domestic demand and contribute to Vietnam’s economic growth recovery in the second half of 2023.

On the side of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai stressed that the main goal for the domestic market is to promote strong domestic market development to effectively utilize the domestic market of nearly VND 100 million. The goal is to achieve an 8-9% growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods and services in 2023.

Strengthening connectivity, ensuring a balance between supply and demand for essential goods, helping to stabilize the prices of goods circulating on the market and aiming to keep inflation below that set out in the resolution. 01 to maintain the level set by the government. Support the consumption of domestic goods, especially agricultural products in the harvest season. Innovation, organizing domestic supply and demand connections in the online environment and based on new platforms, creating a convenient and stable consumption channel.

In order to achieve these goals, the Steering Committee 35 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that it is necessary to implement six tasks and solutions at the same time…

The content of the article was published in Vietnam Economic Review No. 28-2023 on July 10, 2023. Welcome readers to read below The:

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