City aims to stabilise prices

The prices of essential foods and foodstuff, school equipment, dairy products, and medicines will remain steady for a year starting on April 1, with 86 companies registering to take part, one more than last year, according to the Department of Industry and Trade.

Forty of them make food and foodstuff, with six joining what has become an annual programme for the first time. Four companies that took part last time have withdrawn.

The programme for school supplies has attracted 15 firms, while 14 and five have registered respectively for the medicine and dairy programmes.

Ten banks have signed up, and they will lend VND12.9 trillion (USUS$575.47 million) to the participating companies.

This represents an increase of VND1.05 trillion (US$47.08 million) over last year, the department said.

Of the sum, VND9.3 trillion (US$404.3 million) will be short-term working capital loans for 12 months at an interest rate of 5-8%.

The remaining VND3.6 trillion will be medium- and long-term loans for participating firms to invest in production facilities, improve technologies and develop distribution systems, and the interest rate will be 8.5-9%.

The participating companies have been instructed to increase supply by 30-35% this year and ensure their products meet 25-30% of market demand, rising to 30-40% during Tet (Lunar New Year) in early 2017.

School equipment suppliers have been told to increase supply by 15-30% and meet 35-40% of market demand.

Pharmaceutical companies have been instructed to meet 50% of demand.

According to the People's Committee, the programme has benefited both consumers and producers in the last 14 years, and more and more firms are signing up.

They have contributed greatly to developing distribution channels for Vietnamese products and the "Vietnamese people give priority to using Vietnamese goods" campaign, and to controlling inflation and ensuring social security, it said.