Nguyen Thi Hoa, a housewife from Long Bien district, said she hoped to buy goods at cheaper prices, but when coming to a Fivimart supermarket, she was greatly surprised to see pork being sold at a price higher than in the free market.
"I really don’t understand the virtue of price stabilisation," Hoa said.
In fact, different prices have been set by businesses involved in the programme. For example, Bac Huong rice is sold at VND98,000 per kilo in Hapromart but at VND93,500 in Fivimart.
Economists said one reason for such a difference in price listing is that businesses do not get goods from the same suppliers.
Mai Ngoc Khue, Managing Director of the Hanoi Trade Corporation, cited some other reasons, saying businesses involved in the programme were asked to submit their set prices to related agencies for consideration and approval.
Those who purchased goods in large orders would enjoy a competitive price, she said, to make up for transportation fees if they agreed to supply to remote areas.
In most cases, she added, the authorities have failed to consider price gauging in a timely manner.
Vu Vinh Phu, Chairman of the Hanoi Supermarket Association, said there remain some snags in the city’s price stabilisation programme, one of which is how to find suitable and honest businesses.
The city Department of Industry and Trade should renovate its programme since the allocation of VND476 billion for price stabilisation can only meet 10 percent of the city’s total consumer demand for essentials.
The failure of the programme will only make confusion more confounded.
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