CPI Up 0.46 Pct in January
The consumer price index (CPI) in January rose 0.46 per cent over December 2016 and 5.22 per cent compared to the same month of last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The prices of nine out of the eleven goods groups used for calculation increased, with the highest rise recorded in transportation, at 3.21 per cent.
The price of pharmaceuticals and healthcare services was up 1.01 per cent, while that of housing and construction materials increased 0.57 per cent, goods and other services, up 0.48 per cent, and education, up 0.47 per cent.
Meanwhile, a downturn was seen in food and catering services and post and telecommunications with 0.24 per cent and 0.15 per cent, respectively.
Do Thi Ngoc, deputy head of the Department for Price Statistics under the GSO, said that high demand for goods at the end of the lunar year pushed the prices of food, beverages and clothes up.
She also attributed the increase in food prices to high demand before the Lunar New Year festival and the extended rice trade deal between Vietnam and the Philippines.
Rising healthcare service prices in a number of Ho Chi Minh City’s districts were the reason behind the rise in the service price, she explained.
She added that a number of centrally run cities also raised tuition in line with the Government’s Decree 86/2015/ND-CP, leading to a rise in the education service.
Three rises in the fuel price during December 2016 and January 2017, along with the high demand for travel during the month, also caused the public transportation price to rise by 1.05 per cent, said Ngoc.
However, factors contributing to curbing the CPI in January include a 2.2 per cent decline in the pork price and a 4.68 per cent decrease in the vegetable price due to abundant supply, she said, adding that electronic products and telephone prices also went down.
In January, the domestic gold price decreased due to a downturn in the world price, while the exchange rate was stable at about VND22,900/US$1.
The GSO reported that core inflation (CPI excluding food, fresh foodstuff, energy and State-owned products such as healthcare services and education) in the month rose 0.28 per cent over the previous month and 1.88 per cent year on year, which reflected the stability of the monetary policy.
The GSO also forecast that February’s CPI will continue rising as the prices of food, foodstuffs, entertainment and catering services go up during the festive first month of the lunar year.
NDO/VNA
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