Price stabilisation to be kept on track

HCM CITY — The chairman of HCM City People's Committee, Le Hoang Quan, has called on authorities to keep the price-stabilisation programme on track.

Speaking at a monthly meeting to review the socio-economic situation yesterday, he instructed them to punish individuals and companies that failed to keep their side of the bargain.

Under the programme, the city gives them soft loans in exchange for which they should keep supply stable and prices 10 per cent below market rates.

The leader also called for achieving the 11.5 per cent economic growth target.

In the first seven months of this year, the city has achieved encouraging socio-economic results including a 0.09 per cent fall in the consumer price index in July, the first decrease since 2009.

Retail sales were worth VND205 trillion (US$10.7 billion), a growth of 32.1 per cent from the same period last year.

The city received 1.7 million visitors and saw income from tourism grow by 24 per cent. Industrial production grew by nearly 14 per cent. — VNS