News
Vietnam’s CPI rises begin to ease
  • | VNA | August 24, 2011 11:48 PM

Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in August rose by 0.93 percent against last month, the lowest monthly increase since the beginning of this year.

Illustration photo

But the index soared 23.02 percent over the same period of 2010, pushing CPI in the past eight months on average up by 17.64 percent compared to the corresponding time last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on Aug. 24.

Ten out of 11 commodity groups recorded increases ranging from 0.21 to 1.35 percent, of which food and restaurant services saw the sharpest hike with 1.35 percent, followed by education services and other goods and services with 1.13 percent and 1.01 percent, respectively.

Commodities with increases below 1 percent were housing and construction materials; garments-textiles and footwear; beverages and cigarettes; household utensils; cultural, entertainment and tourist services; medicine and medical services and transport.

However, post and telecom services continued to drop, by 0.06 percent.

Nguyen Duc Thang, Head of the GSO Pricing Department, attributed the lesser increase in the price of food and restaurant services to the lower rise of CPI this month.

Ho Chi Minh City ’s CPI in August rose by only 0.68 percent, Thang added.

The GSO expected that September CPI would rise only 0.9 percent, however, it also warned that cities, provinces and relevant ministries and branches should implement strong methods to curb inflation and stabilise prices of essential goods as this month marks National Day (Sept. 2) and the storm season brought further risks.

During the month, the gold price soared 8.7 percent against last month, pushing the price over the past eight months up 15.33 percent over December, 2010 and 38.76 percent compared to the same period last year.

The US dollar experienced a month-on-month rise of 0.26 percent, pushing the price over the past eight months up 0.32 percent compared to the end of 2010 and 9.91 percent over the corresponding time last year.

Leave your comment on this story