Proposal to include electricity prices in the list of goods and services with price stabilization

Proposal to stabilize electricity prices

On the afternoon of May 23, continuing the 5th Session, the National Assembly discussed in the hall a number of contents with different opinions of the draft Law on Prices (amended).

Commenting on this Law project, delegate Nguyen Quoc Luan ( Yen Bai ) said that the goods and services for price stabilization specified in Appendix No. 1 issued with the draft Law include 10 types of goods and services, however, electricity prices are not included.

Delegate Nguyen Quoc Luan - National Assembly Delegation of Yen Bai province spoke at the discussion.

In the current draft Law, electricity prices are stipulated in Appendix 2 - List of goods and services priced by the State. Delegates believe that electricity prices should be added to Appendix 1 - List of goods and services with price stabilization.

The reason - according to the delegate - is because these are important goods and services directly related to people's lives, to the production and business activities of organizations and enterprises, having a great impact on the socio- economy , production and business and people's lives.

Recent practice has shown that this type of commodity has only increased, not decreased. However, this increase in electricity prices is still not enough to cover costs, leading to large losses in the electricity industry, causing cash flow imbalance and leading to many serious consequences.

Therefore, delegate Nguyen Quoc Luan suggested that this type of goods should be implemented by competent state agencies to stabilize prices and be included in the List of price-stabilized goods and services, which would be more reasonable.

Sharing the same view, delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap) also proposed to include electricity in the list of goods and services with price stabilization instead of being an item priced by the State, because according to the delegate, this is an essential item that all people use.

Delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap) spoke.

“I think that it would be more appropriate to include electricity prices in the price stabilization list because currently all people consume electricity and have to pay for electricity. Some people use gasoline and oil, some people do not, but 100% of people use electricity, so why not include it in the price stabilization list? Currently, the State has set electricity prices but still subsidizes them, which is not true to the nature of the electricity industry, so I propose that the National Assembly consider putting electricity prices back into the price stabilization list for the people,” delegate Pham Van Hoa suggested.

Commenting on the authority to decide on the list of goods and services for price stabilization, delegates said that it is necessary to specify in the law to minimize the intervention of state agencies; when necessary, the National Assembly Standing Committee should decide to change this list.

Agreeing with the need to maintain the Gasoline and Oil Price Stabilization Fund, delegate Pham Van Hoa said that it is inappropriate to assign businesses to manage the Fund. According to the delegate, the Ministry of Finance should be assigned to manage this fund; at the same time, he proposed to clearly stipulate the time when the Gasoline and Oil Price Stabilization Fund should no longer be maintained to suit the market economy.

Ensuring resources and reserves of goods when regulating prices

Delegate Nguyen Thien Nhan (Ho Chi Minh City) spoke.

Participating in giving opinions on the draft Law, delegate Nguyen Thien Nhan (Ho Chi Minh City) said that this draft Law has absorbed many opinions of delegates. However, regarding one of the opinions expressed by the delegate at the previous meeting on the regulation of State prices, the examining agency said that the proposal was reasonable, but could not be accepted due to difficulties in the State budget.

The delegate said that the State must have appropriate public financial resources and reserves of goods when regulating prices, so that the State's price regulation is consistent with the relationship and law of supply and demand of goods and services and is feasible, without causing harm to businesses and people.

According to the delegate, the market price of goods and services is formed on the basis of balancing supply and demand of goods and services in competitive conditions, which will bring harmonious benefits to the country, consumers, businesses, and the Government, creating conditions for development without the need for State intervention.

Scene of the meeting on the afternoon of May 23.

However, the current Law on Prices and the draft Law on Prices (amended) do not yet stipulate the principles for State price regulation and management, causing many difficulties and inadequacies in price regulation, especially electricity prices.

Delegates proposed to add the principle of State price regulation management to the draft law, specifically, the State must have public financial resources and reserve goods suitable for price regulation, so that Vietnam Electricity Group, the most important state-owned enterprise, must develop sustainably, becoming the core enterprise implementing the 8th Electricity Plan.

Need to explain and clarify the opinions of National Assembly delegates regarding textbook prices

Concerned about the issue of textbook prices, delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy (Da Nang) said that when discussing textbook prices in the past, she pointed out the fact that buying textbooks has become a burden for many parents. The main reason is that book publishers through schools sell textbooks with a large number of reference books.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy (Da Nang) spoke.

Therefore, the delegates welcomed the Ministry of Education and Training for accepting the opinions of the National Assembly delegates to issue a directive requiring an end to the practice of packaging textbooks and reference books together and forcing students to buy reference books in any form. The delegates noted that through monitoring the situation, the directive has basically been seriously implemented.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy stated that at the 4th Session, during the discussion in the hall, she proposed that the draft Law on Prices (amended) assign the Government to regulate the prices of textbooks in the form of a price frame, including maximum and minimum prices as for other items priced by the State.

Minister of Finance - Head of the Drafting Committee Ho Duc Phoc spoke before the National Assembly accepting this opinion. However, when studying the draft Law submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval, the draft did not reflect the accepted opinion. The Drafting Committee also did not explain this opinion.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy cited the regulations in Resolution No. 29 of the Party Central Committee and Resolution No. 88 of the National Assembly on innovation of the general education textbook program, which stipulate the socialization of textbook compilation.

However, the 2019 revised Law on Education shows a different view from Resolution 88 when it does not give the right to choose textbooks to educational institutions but to the People's Committees at the provincial level.

The delegate suggested that in case the National Assembly finds that the policy of socializing the compilation of textbooks proposed by the 13th National Assembly has many shortcomings, Resolution 88 should be amended to end the implementation of this policy.

In the opposite case, the National Assembly should supplement the necessary provisions in the Law on Prices to ensure consistency in policy, and should not allow the legislative body to issue contradictory regulations. Therefore, the delegate suggested that the above issues should be explained and clarified.

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