CPI development chart in 2017 (Source: VNA)Hanoi(VNA) – The year of 2017 is considered a successful year in inflation control,as the average CPI increased 3.53 percent over 2016 and 2.6 percent compared toDecember 2016, fulfilling the target of keeping the rate under 4 percent for thewhole year, said Director of the General Statistics Office (GSO) Nguyen BichLam.
Vu Thi Thu Thuy, headof the GSO’s Price Statistics Department pointed to major reasons behind CPIrise, including hikes in the prices of health care and education services, aswell as an increase in regional minimum wage.
At the same time, domesticfuel price in 2017 rose 15.49 percent compared to 2016, contributing 0.64percent in CPI increase in the whole year.
The price ofconstruction materials was up 5.23 percent due to increases in the prices ofsand and steel.
Rising prices ofessential goods in the world market also pushed the import price index up by 2.57percent and export price index up by 2.93 percent; the Producer Price Index(PPI) expanded by 2.82 percent, she noted.
Thuy underscored thata record number of 16 storms were seen in 2017, which pushed up the price offood and foodstuff in affected localities, especially central provinces.
Meanwhile, there are anumber of factors helping rein in inflation, including a downturn of 2.6percent in food price in 2017, helping reducing the overall CPI by about 0.53percent.
GSO Director NguyenBich Lam attributed the success in meeting inflation target for the year to effortsof ministries in encouraging businesses’ involvement in stocking goods andstablising the market.
The Ministry ofFinance has kept a close watch on market developments, while coordinating with theMinistry of Industry and Trade to manage fuel prices.
In addition, the StateBank of Vietnam’s proper monetary policies also helped ensure macro-economicstability.
According to the GSO, thecore inflation (CPI excluding food, foodstuff, fresh food, health care andeducation services) in December rose 0.11 percent over the previous month and1.29 percent year on year.
The average coreinflation in 2017 is 1.41 percent, lower than the plan by 1.6-1.8 percent,showing the effectiveness of monetary policies.-VNA
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