Made-in-Vietnam products occupied up to 85-90 percent of the market share in the local market during the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, said the Finance Ministry’s Price Management Department.

In many supermarkets and trade centres, locally-made products took up 95 percent of the total goods volume for Tet. Of which, fresh and processed food, vegetables and fruits, confectionaries and beverages were the best sellers.

Supermarkets sold many essentials goods covered by the government’s price stabilisation programme at prices 5-10 percent lower than those in traditional markets.

Stable prices of essential goods during the year’s largest festival were attributable to the government’s business support policies. According to the Finance Ministry, 42 provinces and cities nationwide implemented loan interest rate subsidies for businesses involving in the price stabilisation programme with a total investment of over 2.5 trillion VND.

With purchases falling significantly at Ho Chi Minh City’s traditional markets after Tet, the prices of many essential foods, including fruits, vegetables, chicken and pork have also dropped correspondingly compared to the pre-Tet highs.

Pork prices fell by 5,000 VND-10,000 VND per kilo to 85,000 VND for a kilo of half fat and half lean meat while prices of vegetables and fruits reduced by 2,000 VND-5,000 VND a kilo to 7,000 VND-8,000 VND for a kilo of cabbage and 8,000 VND- 10,000 VND a kilo of bitter-gourd.

Prices of other essential items such as rice and sugar also slightly decreased in the traditional markets.

In contrast to the traditional markets, sales at supermarkets after Tet have remained high thanks to promotion campaigns designed to stimulate consumption after the festival.

The French supermarket Big C began offering promotions on more than 1,100 product categories from Feb. 6 with prices for electronic, frozen food, children’s toys, meat, seafood and vegetables down by between 5 and 40 percent.

Locally-owned supermarket chain Co.op Mart is also offering discounts on several products.

To continue stabilising the domestic market, the Finance Ministry plans to keep prices of electricity, coal and clean water and bus fares unchanged in the coming time. It will also spend around 3.5 trillion VND from the price stabilisation fund and reduce import taxes to stabilise petrol prices./.