HCM City will add medicine to its list of price-stabilised
essential goods, said the deputy chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee.

A pharmacy for poor people in HCM City’s Binh Chanh District. Local authorities are taking measures to stabilise the price of medicine. (Photo: VNS)

Speaking
on the TV programme Talk and Act, Nguyen Thi Hong on Sunday spoke about
Government Resolution 11 that was issued to curb inflation, stabilise the
macro-economy and ensure social security.

The TV
programme was organised by the municipal People’s Council and HCM City
Television.

She said
the city’s Department of Health would draw up a list of domestically-made
medicine that treats common diseases.

“These
drug prices will be implemented on April 1,” she said.

The city
People’s Committee’s price stabilisation programme covers nine other essentials
goods, including rice, sugar, cooking oil, red meat, eggs, poultry, fruit and
vegetables, processed cookings and seafood.

The city
will also boost the development of animal husbandry to increase the food supply
and expand the retail network system to improve the city’s price-stabilisation
programme.

For
Resolution 11 to be effective, economic expert Phan Chanh Duong said the city
should create measures to help small – and medium-sized enterprises access bank
loans and support workers.

Besides
the higher prices of input materials, companies also faced the risk of employees
quitting their jobs, he said.

Truong
Trong Nghia, deputy head of the city People’s Council’s Economic and State
Budget Division, said small – and medium-sized companies should be supported so
that inflation could be curbed and social security ensured.

Hong
said city authorities would lower loan interest rates and work with commercial
banks to support small – and medium-sized enterprises to access bank loans.

Le Trong
Sang, deputy director of the city Department of Labour, Invalids and Social
Affairs, said to support the poor, the city People’s Committee this month would
offer subsidies of VND30,000 a month to 36,000 poor households to help pay their
electricity bills.

Sang
said his department was working with district authorities to encourage
boarding-house owners to delay higher rental costs for workers.

At the
end of last year, most boarding-house owners increased rents, and this year they
plan to continue to do so, creating a burden for low-income workers, he said.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News