Monthly inflation rise held to 0.36%

The consumer price index (CPI) saw a month-on-month rise of just 0.36 per cent in October, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.

“This is the lowest monthly rise since the beginning of the year. In addition, it is the third month this year that the CPI rise has been below 1 per cent,” the GSO said.

October’s CPI rise was 21.59 per cent up on the same month last year. In the first 10 months of 2011, the CPI rose 17.05 per cent against the same period in 2010.

The GSO attributed the CPI slowdown to slight rises in the cost of restaurant services, which account for 40 per cent of the eleven items used to calculate the CPI

This month, restaurant services rose by 0.06 per cent, the office said.

The price of building materials, transportation and post and telecoms dropped 0.03 per cent, 0.13 per cent and 0.17 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, the cost of foodstuffs dipped 0.49 per cent.

Meanwhile, the CPI for other listed products rose by between 0.06 per cent to 3.2 per cent.

Educational products witnesses the highest price rise, soaring 3.2 per cent.

The next biggest risers were food, home appliances and garments.

“In October, food traders have bought a big volume of rice to serve their export activities. In addition, many provinces continue to increase school fees in accordance with the Government’s roadmap,” said Nguyen Duc Thang, director of the office’s Pricing Statistics Department.

However, Thang said whether or not the CPI would rise further in the remaining months of this year was unpredictable.

“The building season has come so that demand on steel and other building materials will surely increase. Moreover, bad weather will negatively impact on agriculture,” Thang said.

Meanwhile, the gold price this month dipped 4.22 per cent against September but is still up 43.18 per cent against same month last year.

The US dollar price month-on-month rose by 0.39, a year-on-year increase of 7.55 per cent. – VNS

Tags: Vietnam economic, Vietnam economic growth, Vietnam economy, Vietnam economy 2011, Vietnam inflation, Vietnam inflation 2011