(VOV) – The Finance Ministry’s National Institute for Finance and Economics has hosted a July 11 seminar reviewing Vietnamese market prices during the first half of 2013 and discussing their implications for previous whole year forecasts.
Economic experts warn the global economy will continue to suffer difficulties and electricity, petroleum, oil, and fertiliser prices are all likely to rise.
The consumer price index (CPI) edged up only 2.4 percent from December 2012 to June this year. This result, the lowest increase in ten years, is mainly due to the uniform measures the Government mandated in Resolution No. 1 and international fuel and food price fluctuations that forced import-export costs down.
Seminar participants said that low CPI in the first six months of 2013 is a positive sign for consumers and shows dramatic advances in the Government’s efforts to improve macro-economic management and keep inflation in check.
They noted, however, that risks including disappointing purchasing power and slow credit growth will put additional pressure on production already struggling with high bad debt ratios, inefficiency, and sluggish economic restructuring.
Nguyen Tien Thoa, head of the Finance Ministry’s Price Management Department, said minimising budgetary spending and keeping inflation at 4.8 percent are the two most important priorities for the time being.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
