Rises in petrol prices and minimum wage have been the main reasons for the increase in Consumer Price Index (CPI) in May, economic experts said.

CPI increase in May was mainly due to increases in price of transportation service

According to the latest report from the Hanoi Statistics Office, Hanoi’s CPI in May increased by 0.16% against April and 7.8% from May 2012.

The post and telecommunications group remained stable, while other groups saw wild fluctuations, the report said.

The two categories of 'food and services' and 'housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials' declined by 0.24% and 1.03% respectively.

Meanwhile, nine other groups, including tobacco, textiles and apparel and home appliances saw a rise.

The Hanoi Statistics Office said that the fluctuations of Hanoi’s CPI in May were mainly due to increases in price of transportation service (up by 1.32%) and other goods and services (up by an average of 2.75%). These price increases are largely due to a rise in petrol in late April and an increase in the minimum wage in May. The long holiday in late April and early May also contributed to in the areas of hospitality and tourism, they said.

In HCM City, the CPI recorded an increase of 0.06% against April and by 7.2% over the same month last year.

Housing, electricity, water, fuel drinks and tobacco declined from 0.06-1.64 percent while all other groups saw an increase, including other goods and services up by 1.72 percent, transportation up by 1.22 percent and culture, entertainment, and tourism up by 0.18 percent.

In May gold prices decreased by 1.24% in Hanoi and by 3.17% in HCM City from April.