People cut down on non-essential spending

Cut down on non-essential needs

Holding 150,000 VND to go to the market, Ms. Thu was struggling to figure out what to buy for her family of 5 to eat in 1 day while still having enough nutrition. “Since mid-June 2024, rice prices have increased by 10-20 thousand VND/5kg bag, pork belly increased by 10 thousand VND/kg, chicken eggs increased by 5 thousand VND/dozen, vegetables all increased by 5-20 thousand VND depending on the type... As freelancers, we have to spend frugally, mainly to serve essential needs. During the summer, I let my children go back to the countryside, did not go on vacation even though every year they only went for 2 days and 1 night, and minimized shopping to save money to buy books, uniforms and tuition for the children when the new school year is coming", Ms. Minh Thu (Cau Giay, Hanoi) worried.

Ms. Minh Thu (in white shirt) struggles to choose items that fit her tight budget while prices keep "silently" increasing.

Better off than Ms. Thu, Ms. Ngoc Yen (Dong Da, Hanoi) said that she and her husband are both office workers. Although the company is currently considering how to increase their salaries to match Decree 74/2024/ND-CP of the Government, prices have increased for nearly a month now. “My husband and I no longer eat breakfast and drink coffee outside. I wake up early, cook at home for the whole family to save money and ensure nutrition. My husband, children and I even sleep in the same room to save on air conditioning costs. We choose nearby tourist destinations to save on airfare. We cut down on beauty, entertainment and shopping needs to the maximum. Occasionally, when we see deeply discounted items online, we consider whether they are really necessary or not. According to my calculations, if we don't cut back, we will have a deficit of about 30% in living expenses compared to before,” Ms. Yen shared.

According to NielsenIQ Vietnam, NielsenIQ’s 2024 consumer research shows that Asia Pacific consumers are facing pressure from rising living costs, leading to consumers cutting back on discretionary spending to balance spending on essential items, while making more careful purchasing decisions. Accordingly, 89% of consumers are looking for lower prices, 72% are reducing their total spending.

In Vietnam, according to NielsenIQ, 36% of consumers are concerned about the economic recession and 25% are concerned about insecurity and job loss. They also feel the impact of inflation through rising prices. Young people (18-25 years old) improve their financial situation by increasing their income and spending more economically, while older people (46-55 years old) tend to cut back on spending on unnecessary items. 62% of Vietnamese consumers also choose to cook at home more.

Price control

According to the second quarter report of the General Statistics Office (GSO), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the second quarter of 2024 increased by 4.39% over the same period. The reason, according to GSO, is due to the increase in prices of essential goods such as food and catering services; housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials; transportation... Of which, the highest increase was in the education group with an increase of 8.15%; followed by the medicine and medical services group with an increase of 7.63%.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Oanh - Director of the Price Statistics Department (GSO) assessed that salary increase contributes to improving people's lives, contributing to economic growth, increasing people's purchasing power, when the supply - demand relationship changes, it will affect prices...

To avoid the phenomenon of “following the flow” when wages increase, the General Statistics Office recommends a number of solutions to control the market. Accordingly, the authorities need to strengthen the implementation and supervision of price declaration, price posting, and price information disclosure measures. Organize inspections and checks on compliance with price laws and strictly handle violations. In particular, avoid adjusting prices of state-managed services such as health care services, education services, and household electricity at the same time as wages increase, which can easily cause inflationary expectations and cause prices of other goods and services to increase as well.

Encourage shopping malls and supermarkets to organize product promotions to stimulate consumption at the same time as wages increase.

In addition, there are other proactive activities that can make the wage increase not affect the price increase, thereby having less impact on the CPI, such as calling on businesses to participate in the market stabilization program, especially large-scale businesses, reputable brands, high market share and the hub of supply chains. Encourage shopping malls and supermarkets to organize promotional campaigns to stimulate consumption at the same time as the wage increase. At the same time, ministries, branches and localities must fully prepare essential consumer goods such as food and foodstuffs to ensure timely response to people's needs.

According to daidoanket.vn

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