About 10 days before the Lunar New Year 2023, many business owners in Nghe An complained: "Tet is coming quickly but goods are selling slowly". Many shop owners are "restless because people are not shopping for Tet this year"... In newspapers and social networks, we also see headlines such as: "Tet market is quiet, purchasing power is slow", "Tet market 2023 has diverse designs but purchasing power is slow", "Tet goods are abundant, purchasing power is slow... In fact, purchasing power has been slow since before the New Year.
It is only right that Tet comes quickly because the time from Western New Year (solar calendar) to Lunar New Year this year is only 3 weeks. "In a flash" Tet is here! It is understandable that Tet goods are selling slowly this year, because about 2-3 months before Lunar New Year, the world and domestic economy "suddenly" slowed down, growth was slow, even in many places, factories and businesses had to cut staff, reduce working hours because they could not sign more orders. The inevitable result is that hundreds of thousands of "main workers" have reduced income and many people have no income because they lost their jobs, along with no Tet bonus. The obvious consequence is that many workers have to painfully withdraw their social insurance at once to get money for daily expenses because they have not found a job... Even more miserable, many seasonal workers, if they do not pay social insurance, "have nothing to withdraw". In such difficult circumstances, earning daily food is already difficult, let alone getting money for Tet shopping (!?).
In a related development, according to the General Statistics Office, the average monthly income of workers in 2022 reached 6.7 million VND, an increase of 16%. However, as income increases, prices of goods, especially Tet goods, also increase. People now have to calculate very carefully, such as cakes, fruits, travel expenses... all cannot be "overspending". According to economic experts' predictions, this year's Tet, essential consumer goods will maintain the growth rate, while items for display and Tet decoration will decrease compared to previous years. Also according to forecasts, purchasing power is likely to increase in the days before Tet.
Every year, the Tet market is diverse and rich in types of goods and prices. In the general economic difficulties, there are still peach blossom trees on the street with prices of hundreds of millions of dong, if rented for Tet decoration, the price is already 150 million dong. At the same time, there are types of flowers and ornamental plants worth tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dong being released to the market... Surely there will be people with enough economic potential to buy expensive items to celebrate Tet. Life is always like that, the poor and the rich in society are intertwined. Therefore, the advice of our ancestors that "measure your coat according to your cloth" always has practical value.
Article: Nguyen Nguyen
Illustration: Document
