February’s consumer price index (CPI) rose just 1.32 percent from January, bringing the two-month price index to 2.59 percent, the General Statistics Office announced on February 23.

A sufficient supply of essential commodities during the week-long Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in February halted the increasing price trend as normally seen in previous years, said Nguyen Duc Thang, a GSO official.

He quoted statistics showing the February price index climbed between 2 and 3.56 percent from 2002 onwards before falling to 1.37 percent in February 2012.

Foodstuff prices still climbed 3 percent due to increasing Tet holiday demand. The price of beef rose 6.62 percent, chicken 5.68 percent, fresh aquatic products 3.66 percent, and pork 2.27 percent.

Beverage and rice prices edged up 1.5 percent and 0.37 percent respectively, and transport costs also increased 0.81 percent.

Explaining how the CPI slowed in February, experts say inefficient operations prompted many businesses to cut Tet bonuses by 10 percent compared to 2012. The national economy’s sluggish recovery also impacted people’s spending during Tet.

In addition, the price stabilisation programme and sufficient supplies of essential commodities in big cities undoubtedly helped cool prices down.

The GSO forecasts that if retail petrol prices are adjusted upwards by VND1,000 per litre in late February or early March as has been proposed by petrol businesses, March’s CPI will rise an additional 0.1 percent.