>> Government official: CPI forecast to rise 9% this year

>> February CPI records highest rise in 30 months

The Ministry of Industry and Trade expected the consumer price index in March to increase by two percent due to a surge in the cost of electricity and petrol.

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The domestic commodities market had suffered the impacts of a sharp rise in the prices of material and fuel, the ministry said.

Besides the cost of electricity and petrol, the high exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong and foreign currencies had also forced many traders to increase the cost of goods and services.

The country\'s consumer price index increased by 2.09 percent in February against the previous month due to the high prices of most goods over Tet (lunar new year), announced the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The high CPI was due to greater consumption during the lunar new year, said the GSO. Other factors also contributed to the increase, including the Government\'s decision to increase the minimum wage, high bonuses for labourers and the high cost of many goods during the holiday in response to changes in the exchange rate and strong fluctuation of gold and US dollar prices.

February CPI rose by 12.31 percent over the same period last year, up 3.87 percent against last December.

Total retail sales of goods and services surged 23.7 percent in the first two months of this year against the same period last year to VND304.3 trillion (USD13.9 billion).

Total retail sales would have risen by just 10.2 percent if prices had not increased in the two months, said the ministry.