The ministry stated that both price and consumption of food and household commodities have fallen sharply while demand for raw materials is in the process of recovering.
The total value of retail and services in March amounted to VND211,301 billion, a 0.64% decrease from the previous month, yet still pushed the first quarter’s total value to US$636,161 billion, up 11.66% compared to the same period last year.
An increase of over 15% was seen in restaurants, hotels and services, while trade rose just 10.74% and tourism only a slight 3.96%.
MoIT has worked closely with pertinent agencies and localities to implement measures to attempt to balance demand and supply as well as stabilise the market and curb inflation.
Accordingly, the ministry has directed 44 localities, enterprises and corporations to step up programmes to stockpile goods.
Additionally, the Department of Industry and Trade has focused on ensuring supplies of goods to the market, promptly meeting public demand, encouraging distributors’ engagement in the programme and contributing to bringing goods to rural, remote and border areas.
According to the Department of Domestic Market under the MoIT, the domestic economy will continue to face challenges such as slow consumption. At the same time, production will also see difficulties. Bright signs on the horizon have yet to materialise in the property market, but prices of essential products have increased slightly, the department said.
It also forecasts that in the coming days, important commodities such as coal and electricity will continue to trail market price. In particular, demand for goods and services are expected to increase in the coming Liberation and Labour Day holidays of April 30 and May 1, respectively.
However, due to stable prices of food and consumer goods, plus a steady exchange rate, the commodity market is expected to experience fewer fluctuations, the department added.
