Consumer Price Index continues to slow

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Ha Noi and HCM City continued slowing down for a second consecutive month, driven by more stable utilities and food prices.

Ha Noi’s June CPI slowed and increased by only 1.21 per cent from the previous month, according to the Ha Noi Statistics Office. The pace of slowing is still modest due to global rising prices of foodstuff, fashion, household appliances and drinks.

The capital city’s CPI surged by 12.94 per cent from earlier this year due to the rise of 10 commodities, three of them rising by over 1 per cent.

Restaurant and catering services saw rises of 2.08 per cent, of which food surged by 2.93 per cent, foodstuff by 0.19 per cent and restaurants by 1.01 per cent. Hot summer weather has been one of the main reasons for the rising prices of beverages, the CPI of drinks and tobacco increasing by 1.09 per cent in June.

The CPI witnessed a 1.12 per cent increase in education due to the higher prices of textbooks during 2011-12 that rose by 16.9 per cent due to high input costs.

The CPI of remaining goods increased slightly below 1 per cent. Post and telecommunications remained unchanged from the previous month.

HCM City’s CPI saw an optimistic month-on-month increase of 0.69 per cent in June compared to 2.4 per cent in May, driven by the stable prices of gasoline, electricity, fashion, fruit and vegetables.

The City’s CPI increased by over 11 per cent from earlier this year.

Ayumi Konishi, ADB’s country representative in Viet Nam, told reporters last week that the inflation rate would start coming down from this month while double-digit annual inflation would begin to ease by August. Viet Nam has been grappling with some of the highest inflation figures in the world, ratcheting up key interest rates since late last year while pledging a raft of other measures including lower credit and money supply growth and fiscal tightening.

Monthly inflation in Viet Nam eased to 2.2 per cent in May compared to 3.3 per cent in the previous month. The CPI rose by 19.8 per cent in May compared to the same month last year, up from 17.5 per cent in April, the highest since December 2008 when inflation stood at 19.9 per cent after peaking at over 28 per cent earlier the same year. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam CPI, Vietnam CPI 2011, Vietnam economic, Vietnam economy

Posted by VBN on Jun 21 2011. Filed under Consumer price index, Economy News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry