The Prime Minister urged prompt implementation of effective solutions for managing the gold market.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just signed Directive No. 06 on urging the implementation of key tasks after the Tet holiday.

Regarding the gold market, the Prime Minister's Directive states: "Urgently summarize Decree No. 24/2012/ND-CP on the management of gold trading activities. Simultaneously, propose effective solutions for managing the gold market in the new situation, to be completed in the first quarter of 2024." (See more)

Prime Minister: Strictly prohibit negativity and corruption in electricity production and trading.

On February 14th, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued a directive on ensuring the supply of electricity, coal, and gas for electricity production in the coming period.

The Prime Minister's directive emphasizes the strict prohibition of all negative practices, corruption, and vested interests in the process of electricity production, business, and trading in the non-state sector. (See more)

The State Bank of Vietnam has requested a boost in lending right at the beginning of the year.

The State Bank of Vietnam has just requested credit institutions to accelerate credit growth measures from the first months of 2024 in accordance with the tasks and solutions set out by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam in Directive No. 01/CT-NHNN dated January 15, 2024, in order to contribute to promoting economic growth.

Accordingly, credit institutions need to decisively implement solutions to achieve the right and targeted credit growth from the beginning of the year, promptly meeting the credit capital needs of the economy, directing credit towards production and business sectors, priority sectors and economic growth drivers in accordance with the policies of the Government and the Prime Minister; strictly control credit to sectors with potential risks, ensuring safe and effective credit operations.

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The State Bank of Vietnam requests a boost in lending right at the beginning of the year (Photo: Hoang Ha)

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment presents four specific methods for land valuation.

The draft Decree on land prices, currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, specifies the procedures and content for determining land prices using four methods: comparative, income, surplus, and land price adjustment coefficient.

Information on land prices, land lease prices, and premises lease prices used to apply the comparative and surplus methods and construct land price adjustment coefficients is information covering a period of no more than 24 months prior to the land valuation date, collected from the national land database, the national price database, or other sources. (See more)

Many provinces and cities welcomed a huge number of international tourists during Tet.

According to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, during the Lunar New Year holiday from February 8-14, the country's tourism industry is estimated to have welcomed and served 10.5 million domestic tourists (a 16.6% increase compared to the same period last year). This period also saw a significant increase in the number of international visitors in many localities.

Notably, during the 7 days of the Lunar New Year holiday, Phu Quoc is estimated to have welcomed 52,000 international visitors, nearly six times more than the same period last year. As a result, Kien Giang province is estimated to have achieved 1,122 billion VND in tourism revenue. (See more)

Domestic airfare price ceiling to increase from March 1st.

According to Circular 34/2023/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport, effective from March 1st, amending and supplementing some articles of Circular 17/2019/TT-BGTVT promulgating the price framework for passenger transport services on domestic routes, the ceiling price for domestic air tickets will increase from March 1st.

Specifically, according to the News Report, the Circular amends the price framework for basic economy class passenger transportation services. For routes with a distance of less than 500 km, the ceiling price is 1,600,000 VND/ticket/one-way for routes contributing to socio-economic development and 1,700,000 VND/ticket/one-way for other routes. The remaining routes will see price increases ranging from 50,000 to 250,000 VND/ticket/one-way compared to the old regulations, depending on the length of each route.

For routes from 500 km to under 850 km, the maximum fare is 2,250,000 VND/ticket/one-way (previously 2,200,000 VND/ticket/one-way); for routes from 850 km to under 1,000 km, the maximum fare is 2,890,000 VND/ticket/one-way (previously 2,790,000 VND/ticket/one-way); for routes from 1,000 km to under 1,280 km, the maximum fare is 3,400,000 VND/ticket/one-way (previously 3,200,000 VND/ticket/one-way); and for routes of 1,280 km or more, the maximum fare is 4,000,000 VND/ticket/one-way (previously 3,750,000 VND/ticket/one-way).

Airlines served nearly 1.3 million passengers during the Lunar New Year holiday.

A total of 1.3 million passengers passed through airports nationwide during the 7-day Lunar New Year holiday. According to VTV, passenger transport volume during this year's Tet holiday increased by 9.6% compared to the same period last year. The number of international passengers during this holiday reached over 630,000, an increase of nearly 49%. Meanwhile, the number of domestic passengers decreased by about 13% compared to last year.

To meet post-Tet travel demand, the aviation industry will continue to maintain and ensure sufficient vehicles and personnel to guarantee service quality and minimize flight delays and cancellations.

No shortages or price spikes after the Lunar New Year.

In previous years, according to VTV, the period after Tet (Lunar New Year) often saw price increases for some essential goods, especially food, or shortages of certain items such as fresh fruits and vegetables. However, this year, the market is different with stable prices and abundant supply.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade assesses that the supply of goods for Tet (Lunar New Year) is ensured, with no shortages or price spikes occurring.

Vegetables like water spinach, celery, and jute mallow, which typically saw price increases after Tet in previous years, have remained stable this year. For familiar food items like meat and fish, slight increases have been recorded for some items such as ribs, cartilage, and pork belly, which have risen by 20,000 VND/kg. Fish prices have increased slightly by 5,000-10,000 VND/kg at traditional markets, while prices at supermarkets have remained stable until after Tet.