In many supermarkets and trade centres, locally-made productstook up 95 percent of the total goods volume for Tet. Of which, freshand processed food, vegetables and fruits, confectionaries and beverageswere the best sellers.
Supermarkets sold manyessentials goods covered by the government’s price stabilisationprogramme at prices 5-10 percent lower than those in traditionalmarkets.
Stable prices of essential goods during theyear’s largest festival were attributable to the government’s businesssupport policies. According to the Finance Ministry, 42 provinces andcities nationwide implemented loan interest rate subsidies forbusinesses involving in the price stabilisation programme with a totalinvestment of over 2.5 trillion VND.
Withpurchases falling significantly at Ho Chi Minh City’s traditionalmarkets after Tet, the prices of many essential foods, including fruits,vegetables, chicken and pork have also dropped correspondingly comparedto the pre-Tet highs.
Pork prices fell by 5,000VND-10,000 VND per kilo to 85,000 VND for a kilo of half fat and halflean meat while prices of vegetables and fruits reduced by 2,000VND-5,000 VND a kilo to 7,000 VND-8,000 VND for a kilo of cabbage and8,000 VND- 10,000 VND a kilo of bitter-gourd.
Prices of other essential items such as rice and sugar also slightly decreased in the traditional markets.
In contrast to the traditional markets, sales at supermarkets afterTet have remained high thanks to promotion campaigns designed tostimulate consumption after the festival.
The Frenchsupermarket Big C began offering promotions on more than 1,100 productcategories from Feb. 6 with prices for electronic, frozen food,children’s toys, meat, seafood and vegetables down by between 5 and 40percent.
Locally-owned supermarket chain Co.op Mart is also offering discounts on several products.
To continue stabilising the domestic market, the Finance Ministryplans to keep prices of electricity, coal and clean water and bus faresunchanged in the coming time. It will also spend around 3.5 trillion VNDfrom the price stabilisation fund and reduce import taxes to stabilisepetrol prices./.