Vietnam’s consumer price index ( CPI ) in March edged down 0.19 percent
against the previous month due to declining demand for goods and
services after the Lunar New Year festival, reported the General
Statistics Office on March 23.

With the March figure, CPI in the first quarter of this year was up
2.39 percent and 6.91 percent from December, 2012, and the same period
last year respectively.

Four out of 11 commodity
baskets saw a drop of 0.05 – 0.53 percent in prices. The sharpest
decrease was seen in foodstuff and restaurant services. Food and
foodstuff prices went down 0.59 percent and 0.95 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, a slight decline was recorded in postal
and telecommunication services. Other declines were seen in
beverages-tobacco and transport services, the latter of which inched
down 0.25 percent thanks to the Government’s fuel price stabilisation
policy and discount schemes by various transport firms.

In a macro-economic perspective, experts blamed weak supply and demand
on the Government’s goal of curbing inflation in combination with
ongoing cautious financial and monetary policies.

During the month, gold prices moved down 0.73 percent while the US
dollar index was up 0.41 percent. This drove their respective prices
down 0.8 percent and 0.05 percent year-on-year.-VNA