8:29:08 AM | 22/1/2010
Food prices keep soaring over the past days in the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi as the Lunar New Year, or Tet holiday, is nearing.
Prices of chicken meat rose by VND10,000 to VND75,000/kg, and were forecast to hit VND90,000/kg in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, prices of pig, swan and beef also rose by VND10,000/kg.
Nguyen Van Minh, deputy head of Animal Husbandry Office under the Hanoi city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development blamed the price hikes for rising production costs, stressing that soaring prices of animal feed was the major reason.
He added that local traders’ speculation of foods for higher prices in the holiday also pushed the prices up.
Hanoi is expected to need 12.000 tons of pork, 3,000 tons of beef and 6,000 tons of poultry meat in this holiday, up 20% from weekday.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that food prices will slightly rise before Tet but there will be no food scarcity. (New Hanoi)
Vietnamese
