The national Consumer Price Index (CPI) in February rose by only 1.32
percent against the previous month, a 7.02 percent increase over the
same period last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on
February 23.
Head of the GSO’s Price Department Nguyen
Duc Thang attributed the slight rise to the abundant supplies of
essential commodities.
Ten out of the 11 groups of
commodities saw price hikes ranging from 0.03 percent to 2.28 percent.
The highest rise during the month was seen in the group of restaurants
and catering services while education experienced the lowest price
increase.
Food prices this month witnessed a modest
increase of 0.37 percent, mainly because of a 0.85 percent fall in the
price of rice in the Mekong Delta.
Two groups of
commodities that also saw price increase were beverage and
transportation due to the high demand during the Lunar New Year.
During the month, the gold price dropped by 0.33 percent while the USD price saw a slight increase of 0.03 percent.
The CPI in March and the following months are expected to rise following the increase in oil and gas prices.-VNA