Vietnam will this week slash a wide range of import tariffs in a bid to cut inflation which is causing public concern and eroding the communist country's economic gains, state media reported Monday.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, at a weekend meeting of his new cabinet, instructed ministers to curb inflation after consumer prices rose 0.94 percent last month, taking the inflation rate so far this year to 6.19 percent.
The year-on-year rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 8.4 percent for July, driven by a 15-percent jump in food prices that were expected to go up further after recent outbreaks of bird flu and a pig disease.
Prices have spiked in Vietnam, which saw booming economic growth of 8.2 percent last year, amid an unprecedented influx of foreign investment that the government says has topped seven billion dollars so far this year.
Vietnam, a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since January, and a fast emerging Asian investment destination, is targeting 8.5 percent annual economic growth this year but wants to keep inflation below 8 percent.
To reduce the rising costs of a range of products, Vietnam will this week cut import tariffs by between 30 and 60 percent on many food and dairy products as well as on steel and building materials, the Saigon Times reported.
Import tax on pork, beef and other red meats, for example, will fall from 30 to 12 percent, and duties on steel products will be slashed from up to 12 percent now to as low as five percent, the newspaper said Monday.