Government freeze on price of goods and food
THE Commerce Ministry will not allow any enterprises to increase the price of goods or food during the difficult period the country is going through, even though the minimum daily wage will rise next year.
Permanent secretary Wiboonlasana Ruamraksa said yesterday Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had ordered the ministry to control the cost of living, and said that the price of goods and food should not increase to the detriment of consumers during the tough period the Kingdom is going through, following the passing of His Majesty the King.
“An increase in the minimum wage should not be a reason for goods prices to rise, as the wage increase is not that much. The government will closely control the cost of living,” she stressed.
The comments were made after the tripartite committee on labour wages agreed to increase the minimum wage by between Bt5 and Bt10 per day in 69 provinces, starting early next year.
The decision requires ratification by the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, to increase the supply of black clothing for Thai mourners, the ministry has joined hands with the Thai Garment Manufacturers Association to organise a “Black clothes” fair for consumers.
The fair began yesterday and runs through till Monday at the International Trade Promotion Exhibition Hall, on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok.
With very high demand for black clothes, garment-makers have increased their production capacity, enabling them to supply about one million items of clothing for the Commerce Ministry’s fair, where they will be sold at discounted prices.
Thavorn Kanokvaleewong, president of the association, said most clothes manufacturers had responded to the surge in demand by increasing production capacity by 10-20 per cent from their normal operations.
While some had been unable to do so due to a limited supply of textiles and labour, the supply of black clothes should be adequate for the time being, and more supplies would come out in the next two weeks, he said.
Consumers do not therefore need to rush to buy black clothing immediately, he added.
Big traders were also cooperating with the ministry to sell black clothes at more than 100 outlets nationwide.
Tesco Lotus has launched a project to hand out 55,000 black shirts free of charge at its outlets around the country.
The project starts on Monday at nine branches in Bangkok, and will be extended to Tesco Lotus’ 60 outlets throughout the country, running until November 11.
