CPI RISES 1% IN FEB

Vietnam’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) in February increased 1% month-on-month, mostly due to a hike in the prices of fuel and food products, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The prices of fuel products in the local market were revised up in line with the global fuel price hike, and the prices of food and foodstuffs, out-of-home dining and public transport services during the Tet holiday increased, thereby pushing up the index in February, said Nguyen Thu Oanh, head of GSO’s Price Statistics Department.

The CPI in February also inched up 1.42% year-on-year, she added.

Among the 11 groups of consumer goods and services in the basket of items used to calculate the CPI, only postal and telecommunication services registered a fall in price.

Meanwhile, transport services posted the highest spike of 2.35%, as local fuel prices soared up to 5.8% compared to January.

Food and catering services recorded an increase of 1.54% month-on-month, contributing 0.52 percentage points to the overall index.

Besides, housing and construction materials saw an increase of 0.92%, as the prices of input materials such as fuel, gas and electricity rose. Similarly, the prices of beverage and tobacco; cultural, entertainment and tourism services marked an increase of 0.73% and 0.51%, respectively.

During the first two months of the year, the CPI marked a growth of 1.68% versus the same period last year.

Further, the core inflation in February inched up 0.49% month-on-month and 0.68% year-on-year.

Source: The Saigon Times