Wage increases need to go hand in hand with market price controls

The following are the shares of some civil servants and public employees in Nghe An before the salary increase:

Mr. Tran Dan Dau - Head of Administration and General Department, Provincial Cultural Center:

“When we heard the news that the basic salary would increase to 1.8 million VND/month, we were very excited. Because working in an administrative agency, there is no other income besides salary, so the more we get, the happier we are. Moreover, this increase is quite high (310 thousand VND), helping civil servants and public employees have a significant additional source of income to cover their living expenses.

For my family, the salary increase is really meaningful in improving our lives, it will be used to buy more items to serve daily needs, buy more food to improve health. In particular, the cost of education for our children is currently quite high, the salary increase will help my husband and I balance this expense.

However, the excitement also goes hand in hand with concerns about market fluctuations and rising prices. Because almost every previous salary increase was followed by a rise in consumer goods prices, forming a new price level, making the salary increase less meaningful. Therefore, along with the salary increase, the State needs to implement price management measures, aiming to ensure the lives of salaried officials and civil servants.

Mr. Tran Hung Thai - Principal of Luong Minh Boarding Secondary School (Tuong Duong):

“Information about increasing the basic salary from 1.49 million VND/month to 1.8 million VND/month has been available since the beginning of the year and has been expected by many people, especially teachers in mountainous areas like us. The regulation on increasing the basic salary, effective from July 1, has met the expectations of myself as well as many other civil servants and public employees.

With the increased salary, the family has more savings to pay off the bank loan, reducing the pressure of interest rates, because when buying a house, we had to borrow a large amount. My husband and I are both teachers, so when the basic salary increases, we will have a significant additional source of income to cover the needs of family life and take care of the children's education.

We hope that the State and relevant sectors will quickly implement the new salary level so that the beneficiaries can soon receive the new salary level. And we hope that after this salary increase, market prices will remain stable, without major fluctuations that will affect the lives of workers."

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha Phuong - Administrative staff, Nghe An Library:

“For librarians like us, we do not have any other income besides our salary. Therefore, when we heard that the basic salary would increase to 1.8 million VND from July 1, we were extremely happy, excited and looked forward to it every day. This salary adjustment is quite high compared to previous adjustments, bringing even more joy to me and my colleagues in the agency.

The basic salary of 1.49 million VND has been maintained for quite a long time, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, affecting the economy, so the salary increase had to be postponed. Increasing the basic salary at this time is completely reasonable, because the old salary does not meet the needs of life. Because consumer goods and necessities have increased compared to the time when the salary was just increased, making spending and covering family life a difficult problem.

With the increase in the basic salary to 1.8 million VND, I will have nearly 1 million VND more each month. This amount of money will help me feel more comfortable in solving the problem of living expenses, without having to hesitate and calculate every time I buy rice, cooking oil and other necessities. Besides, my colleagues and I are also worried about the possibility of market prices increasing, because previous salary increases have always led to price increases. Hopefully this time the Government will make reasonable adjustments."

Ms. Hoang Kim Ngan - Cultural officer of Tuong Son commune (Mr. Son):

“Like many other civil servants and public employees, I am very happy that the basic salary will increase to 1.8 million VND from July 1. I am happy because I have more than 1 million VND per month to support my family. For some people, this amount is not much, but for families in rural areas like ours, it is a significant amount.

After a long time being affected by the epidemic, recently the prices of goods have increased, the current high basic salary increase has met the expectations of myself and my family. In the countryside, vegetables - tubers - fruits can be self-sufficient, ensuring daily needs, so the increased salary I will spend on my children's education.

And I also hope that along with the salary increase, the Government and related sectors and localities will implement solutions to control and stabilize market prices, not allowing prices of goods to increase too high, so that the salary increase is meaningful."