Price remains stable

The Government issued a decree to raise the common minimum wage rate from the current VND830,000 to VND1.05 million (US$50.45) per month, an increase of 25 percent, from May 1, 2012.

Under Decree No. 31/2012/ND-CP, dated April 12, the new minimum wage rate will be applied to civil servants and people working for State-owned agencies, the armed forces, political and socio-political organizations, public administrative organizations, and one-member limited companies owned by the State under the Law on Enterprise.

  Prices of essential items remain stable after a new wage increase.Along with the new minimum wage, the pension rate, social insurance allowance and monthly allowance will also increase by 26.5 percent from May 1 for 7 groups of beneficiaries, under Decree 34 of the Government.

After the wage increase, customers have paid a special attention to change of price of essential items. a survey to markets of Thu Dau Mot, Dinh and some supermarkets of Coopmart, Vinatex… showed that price of essential items remains stable. Accordingly, pork is priced at VND83,000-90,000 per kg, beef at VND220,000 per kg, chicken at VND50,000-160,000 per kg.

A joyful signal for customers

Thien Truc in Hiep Thanh ward, Thu Dau Mot town was very happy when hearing about price decrease of cooking whilst Nguyen Van Linh, teacher of a primary school said that his family’s total income is at VND8mil per month. The income is not enough for subsistence fees. Therefore, he and his wife were eagerly waiting for a new wage increase period.

According to Vu Dinh Anh, an economic expert, the wage increase only impacted on 6 million people, so it would not trigger a strong influence on market price.

Aside from stability of market price, supermarkets’ promotional programs have helped customers enjoy profits. Coopmart Binh Duong director Vo Huu Thach, said “Co.op spends over VND40billion to launch promotional programs on its 16th birthday anniversary”. Meanwhile, Citimark has launched promotional programs for essential items.

Reported by T.Le – Translated by A.C