HÀ NỘI – The capital city has followed HCM City in stopping zero-interest loans to enterprises participating in the price stabilisation programme for the Tết (Lunar New Year) season.

Despite this, markets in both cities will have sufficient food items in stock, authorities say.

Nguyễn Đức Chung, Chairman of the Hà Nội People’s Committee, said his administration would facilitate enterprises’ access to bank loans for purchasing goods to stock for the festival season, the Giao thông (Transportation) newspaper reported.

This is the most efficient way to ensure enough goods for Tết and will create good conditions for the enterprises to step up their production and business efficiency, Chung said.

The report also quoted Lê Ngọc Đào, deputy director of HCM City Department of Industry and Trade, as saying that the municipal administration had not been giving out the zero-interest loans since 2013.

Instead, the city has encouraged commercial banks to give loans at preferential interest rates so that the enterprises can access funds for production, trading and stocking, ensuring stability in demand and supply, Đào said.

This has seen the number of enterprises joining the price stabilisation programme increase every year, he added.

Nguyễn Ngọc An, deputy director of Vissan, a major food company in HCM City, said that over the past three or four years, his company had not obtained the zero-interest loans from the State budget.

The company has joined the price stabilisation programme to get loans at preferential interest rates from commercial banks that are also part of it, he said.

After joining the programme, Vissan has restructured its production process to compete in terms of price and quality of goods, An said.

So far, ten commercial banks have joined HCM City’s Tết goods price stabilisation programme to provide loans worth VNĐ12 trillion (US$530,750) this year, VNĐ1.1 trillion higher than last year, said Nguyễn Hoàng Minh, deputy director of the State Bank’s branch in HCM City. The loans carry interest rates of between 4.15 per cent and 6.5 per cent per year.

Stable supply

An said Vissan has prepared 3,200 tonnes of processed food and 3,000 tonnes of fresh food for the Tết season. He said demand for food for Tết 2017 will not increase strongly in the HCM City with many people leaving their homes or on tours.

Lotte Mart has increased supply by 30-40 per cent for confectionery and beverages and 25 per cent for fashion products; while Coop Mart has said it will cooperate with suppliers to offer discounts of 10-50 per cent on thousands of products.

Nguyễn Xuân Dương, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Livestock Department, said the domestic livestock industry would supply enough food to the local market for the Tết season because of increased output, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), output in November increased by 5.5-6 per cent for poultry meat, 6-6.3 per cent for eggs, 1.8 per cent for beef, 10 per cent for milk and 5 per cent for pork year-on-year.

Pork prices fell to VNĐ35,000-37,000 per kilo in southern Đồng Nai Province, but was more stable in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces at between VNĐ38,000-43,000 per kilo.

Chicken prices have also been stable in the southern provinces because there has been no sudden spike in demand, a GSO report said. — VNS