Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc: Strive for CPI not to exceed 4% in 2024

On the morning of October 30, chairing the meeting of the Steering Committee for Price Management, evaluating the results of price management and operation in the first 10 months of 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc, Head of the Steering Committee, emphasized the goal of striving for an average CPI of not exceeding 4% by the end of 2024.

People shop at WinMart Vo Thi Sau supermarket, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi . Photo: Tran Viet/VNA

Ensuring supply of essential goods

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, in the recent past, despite unfavorable external impacts and objective factors, under the direction of the Party, the supervision of the National Assembly , and the drastic and effective participation of the Government, ministries, branches, and localities, price management and operation have achieved the set goals.

The Deputy Prime Minister stated that to ensure macroeconomic stability, ensuring the supply of essential goods is extremely important. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and relevant ministries and branches closely monitor market developments to prepare solutions to ensure supply and demand of essential goods. In particular, managing and operating prices, ensuring people's consumption needs during the upcoming Lunar New Year, paying attention to poor households and disadvantaged families; continuing to proactively operate monetary policy, managing exchange rates well...

Recommending ministries and branches, based on their assigned functions and tasks, to closely monitor developments in strategic commodities on the world market and developments in the world situation that impact the domestic market (including the petroleum market) to prepare solutions and scenarios for flexible and effective price management and operation. Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc also noted to ensure smooth supply, circulation and distribution of goods. Continue to review and adjust prices of public services according to the roadmap and commodities managed by the State according to market principles, conduct assessments and carefully calculate impacts to avoid causing major disruptions in price levels, affecting people's lives, and ensuring the goal of controlling inflation.

At the same time, flexibly and effectively use tools and measures to regulate prices according to the provisions of law on prices, control and market stabilization; continue to synchronously deploy solutions to promote production and business development; effectively carry out the work of preventing and combating smuggling...

Ministries and branches shall review and comprehensively study legal regulations on prices and guiding documents to propose adjustments and improvements to further enhance the effectiveness of price management and operation; well organize the implementation of price management and operation tasks in accordance with authority, responsibility and legal regulations.

Believing that, “we have recently done a good job of communicating about salary increases, electricity prices, tuition adjustments, etc., and need to continue to promote this,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted the need to widely communicate and inform the public before adjusting prices of state-managed goods to avoid inaccurate information that causes public confusion.

Good control of inflation

According to the report of the Ministry of Finance, the average CPI in the first 9 months of 2024 increased by 3.88% compared to the same period in 2023. To stabilize the macro economy, control inflation according to the target set by the National Assembly and implement the roadmap for market prices of public services and goods managed by the State, since the beginning of the year, the Government, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the Steering Committee for Price Management have directed ministries, branches and localities to ensure smooth and increase the supply of essential goods and services to meet people's needs. Timely issue of national reserve goods to support and provide relief to people affected by storms and floods, promote the recovery of agricultural production after storms...

In the context of storm YAGI causing serious consequences to people's lives, at times there was a shortage of vegetables, tubers, fruits, and food, causing local price increases in some localities, the Government and the Prime Minister promptly issued instructions to strengthen the supply of essential goods to serve people in localities affected by storms and floods. Along with that, promptly issue national reserve goods to provide relief and support to damaged localities, promptly overcome the consequences of natural disasters, boost production and business, actively promote growth, and control inflation well.

With the synchronous participation of ministries, branches and localities, the supply of goods is guaranteed, prices of goods at supermarkets are basically kept stable. At traditional markets, prices of some vegetables, tubers, pork and noodles have increased but not dramatically, supply is guaranteed so there is almost no shortage of goods or unreasonable price increases.

The State Bank continues to operate monetary policy proactively, flexibly, effectively, in synchronous, harmonious and close coordination with fiscal policy and other macroeconomic policies to support economic growth associated with inflation control, contributing to stabilizing the macro economy, the money and foreign exchange markets and the banking system. By October 23, 2024, credit of the whole system increased by 9.28% compared to the end of 2023 and increased by 16.48% compared to the same period last year. Liquidity is abundant, there is still a lot of room for credit growth, capital supply for the economy...

Based on the synthesis of information and updated forecasts of price trends of important and essential commodities, the Ministry of Finance has updated two price management scenarios. Scenario 1 forecasts an average CPI increase of about 3.7% in 2024, scenario 2 is an increase of about 3.92% compared to 2023 and recommends price management solutions for the remaining months of 2024.

Assuming that the CPI in the remaining months increases at the same rate as the previous month, then in the remaining period of 2024, the CPI still has room to increase by about 0.98 - 1.95% to ensure the target of controlling average inflation in 2024 in the range of 4.0 - 4.5%.

At the meeting, the ministries and branches that are members of the Steering Committee analyzed a number of factors affecting price levels in the coming time, stating that there is still a lot of room for price management this year, and at the same time made a number of proposals and recommendations for price management in the remaining time of 2024.

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