Moreover, China is pursuing a "zero Covid" policy, leading to supply chain disruptions and scarcity of raw materials, thus further pushing up prices and production costs.

Mr. Nguyen Tri Ngoc, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fertilizer Association, said that world fertilizer prices have peaked in the past two years. Compared to the end of 2021, domestic fertilizer prices have increased by more than 20% and are the highest ever, while fertilizer accounts for 40-50% of total agricultural production cost.

According to the Vietnam Construction Contractors’ Association, the price of construction materials has increased by 10-15% on average since the beginning of the year and is forecast to keep rising in the coming time.

The Vietnam Beer Alcohol Beverage Association (VBA) said that the price of raw materials for beer production has skyrocketed, from 10 to 60%.

Moreover, the price of petrol has increased and will continue to rise in the near future.

Director of the Nghi Son Seafood Co., Ltd. said the increase in gasoline prices immediately affected the lives of more than 500 employees of the company. They all complained and asked for a subsidy, because the cost of buying petrol to go to work has reached several hundred thousand VND per month. The cost of container rental and logistics service prices have also increased. This has greatly affected the company’s operation.

Many enterprises lamented that gasoline prices, transportation charges, prices of raw materials, and employee wages have all increased... but product prices could not increase accordingly because of weak purchasing power.

According to economist Ngo Tri Long, one of the main obstacles to economic recovery this year is the sharp increase in production costs.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR), said that supply shortages and supply chain disruptions, along with the impact of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, are impacting economic production. Some important indicators such as the producer price index (PPI) and raw material price index for production rose for the industrial sector. Inflation pressure is increasing strongly.

Meanwhile, the difference in Vietnam's economic stimulus policy and the global trend and inefficiency in enforcement are causing risks and obstacles to the recovery process of Vietnamese enterprises.

Experts said that the factors must be specifically assessed to prepare response scenarios. This is one of the biggest challenges in running the economy at the moment.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Viet said to solve these problems, it is necessary to keep gasoline prices at a reasonable level, control supply well, and not let the world's supply chain break to Vietnam.

First of all, it is necessary to continue to reduce gasoline taxes, to keep prices reasonable. The next is to reduce other taxes and fees to support businesses, along with the early implementation of the proposed 2% loan interest rate support package.

Tran Thuy