The October update from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that the CPI rose 0.83 per cent against September and 4.09 per cent against October last year. Medicine and healthcare services rose a substantial 10 percent hike and were largely behind the high inflation rate.

Nine out of the eleven categories in the basket of goods saw monthly increases, according to the GSO. “It is necessary to control and stabilize macro-economic development,” PM Phuc told the government’s monthly meeting on October 29. “Inflation must be kept under the NA target of 5 per cent.”

As the economy expanded just 5.92 per cent in the first nine months, PM Phuc also asked cabinet members to deliberate on measures to achieve the target of 6.3-6.5 per cent in the remainder of the year.

Good signs came from the number of newly-established enterprises being expected to set a new record of 100,000 this year while 20,000 businesses resumed operations during the first ten months, he said. Vietnam’s business environment climbed up nine places, ranking 5^th among ASEAN member countries, in the World Bank’s latest Doing Business Report.

The government will be under pressure to achieve the 5 per cent inflation target as adverse weather conditions and rising demand for food, coupled with possible higher energy prices caused by OPEC’s production cut in November, are likely to send consumer prices up in the last two months of the year.

In terms of FDI attraction, Vietnam lured some $17.6 billion in the first ten months, down 8.7 per cent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

New FDI commitments totaled $12.26 billion, down 1.3 per cent, while additional capital in existing projects fell 22.1 per cent to $5.34 billion, MPI said. From January to October, 73 per cent of new investment and additional capital went to the processing industry, followed by property with 5.5 per cent.

Remarkably, foreign investors had disbursed an estimated $12.7 billion in Vietnam as at October, a rise of 7.6 per cent from a year ago. The FDI sector posted a trade surplus of $17.51 billion in the first ten months, excluding crude oil. South Korea continued to be the largest foreign investor in Vietnam.