Many consumer goods prices increase right before the salary increase.

From July 1, 2024, cadres, civil servants, public employees, armed forces and pensioners will officially apply the new salary level. In particular, the basic salary for cadres, civil servants and public employees will be adjusted from 1.8 million VND/month to 2.34 million VND/month, equivalent to an increase of 30% compared to the current basic salary.

In addition to the excitement and eagerness of those receiving salaries from the State budget, most people are worried that the selling prices of most goods will also "follow suit" to increase, even increase before the previous salary adjustments. In response to people's concerns and implementing the direction of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the relevant agencies have taken many measures to manage prices and stabilize the market so that salary increases do not put pressure on commodity prices.

Food is one of the items that increased in price before the salary increase (Food stall at My Tho wholesale market, Nam Dinh city).

Goods prices are about to increase

The situation of increasing prices of goods in the market according to wages often focuses on essential consumer goods... According to the Provincial Statistics Office, the consumer price index (CPI) in May 2024 increased by 0.25% compared to the previous month and increased by 4.26% compared to the same period in 2023. Of the total 11 groups of essential goods, 7 groups increased: food and catering services increased by 0.9%; beverages and tobacco increased by 0.35%; clothing, hats, footwear increased by 0.26%; household equipment and utensils increased by 0.11%; medicine and medical services increased by 0.02%; culture, entertainment and tourism increased by 1.14%; other goods and services increased by 0.29%. The 3 groups of goods that remained stable and decreased were telecommunications services, construction materials and gasoline, fuel due to the direct impact of world price levels and the USD exchange rate. However, it was not until mid-June 2024 that the construction materials group continued to announce price increases to each dealer and customer.

At traditional markets and specialized stores, prices of many types of goods have continuously increased. In particular, food groups such as pork, rice, eggs, milk, technological products, cosmetics and vegetables, tubers and fruits have increased by 5-10% depending on the product. For example, pork prices have continuously increased every month and reached an increase of about 30% compared to the beginning of 2024; poultry egg prices were about 25-27 thousand VND/dozen half a month ago, but now they are up to 30-32 thousand VND/dozen; green vegetables have increased from 1.5 to 2 times...

According to managers, the price constituents do not depend on the wage increase. However, the current market price picture shows that in addition to some commodity groups increasing due to the impact of the world economy and fluctuations in the USD exchange rate, many commodities have increased in price due to the psychological factor of taking advantage of the wage increase. Specifically, the price of common rice, after a period of sharp increase, has leveled off in the past two months and remained around 200,000 VND/yen, but is now also increasing even though it is the time to harvest the spring rice crop, and the supply in the province and in the country is very abundant. The price of poultry eggs has also increased while the price of animal feed has remained the same in the past few months. The selling price of some technological products, cosmetics and vegetables, tubers and fruits has increased while the cost of gasoline for production and transportation has decreased compared to the previous month...

Efforts to stabilize prices

This time the salary increase is at a high level, so it is not excluded that many subjects take advantage of this policy to push up the prices of goods and services, affecting the majority of consumers. Therefore, the authorities are actively implementing solutions to prevent unreasonable increases in consumer prices in the period before and after the salary increase. In particular, the Department of Industry and Trade regularly grasps the price movements of goods as well as the balance of supply and demand of essential goods such as gasoline, rice, food, etc.; promptly receives documents notifying promotional activities of units and enterprises to create favorable conditions for consumer stimulus activities in accordance with regulations; coordinates with relevant agencies in price management, maintains the market of goods at a stable level, and prevents hoarding and unreasonable price speculation in the area.

The Market Management Department directed professional teams to strengthen measures to inspect and control market prices, propagate and disseminate legal regulations in commercial activities to organizations and individuals producing and trading in the province, actively contributing to stabilizing the market, preventing speculation, hoarding, and unreasonable price increases that cause market instability. At the same time, creating favorable conditions for smooth circulation of goods. Along with price control, functional sectors focus on promoting production, preventing shortages and supply disruptions that cause sudden price increases, especially for strategic goods such as: gasoline, food, medicine, construction materials, etc.

The drastic participation of functional sectors and the expectation that from now until the end of 2024, the supply of goods, especially food, foodstuffs, raw materials and essential fuels will well meet the needs of production and life of people and businesses. Traditional sales channels and e-commerce continue to become important distribution methods, effectively consuming goods and agricultural products for consumers, contributing significantly to stabilizing market prices, minimizing the use of salary increases to increase prices of goods dramatically.

Article and photos: Nguyen Huong

Source: https://baonamdinh.vn/kinh-te/202406/nhieu-mat-hang-tieu-dungtang-gia-ngay-truoc-thoi-diem-tang-luong-33d15ce/