Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The country’s consumer price index (CPI) in Februaryinched up 0.23 percent from last month and 5.02 percent year-on-year, theGeneral Statistics Office (GSO) announced on February 28.
Out of the 11 main goods and service groups, seven experienced price hikesduring the month, including housing and construction material (0.77 percent),transportation (0.56 percent), medicines and healthcare services (0.22percent), culture, entertainment and tourism (0.15 percent), other commoditiesand services (0.14 percent), restaurants and food services (0.11 percent) andhousehold appliances (0.05 percent).
Meanwhile, slight falls were seen in telecommunication (0.07 percent), garment,hats and footwear (0.05 percent) and beverage and tobacco (0.01 percent).Education group remained unchanged.
Do Thi Ngoc, Deputy Head of the GSO’s CPI Department said that the rise inFebruary’s CPI was due to high demand for certain commodities for traditionalrituals in the first lunar month and spring festivals, such as flowers, foodand restaurant services.
Growing demand for travel and higher fuel prices contributed to the increase intransport service costs, Ngoc stated.
However, there were some elements keeping CPI down like reduction in pork pricedue to low demands and limited export to China, abundant supply of fresh vegetablesand weak demand for clothes after the festive season.
In the month, gold price continued to rise in line with the global trend despiterumor that the US Federal Reserve is going to lift interest rate. The price ofgold in the domestic market fluctuated at around 36.9 million VND (1,621 USD)per tael.
Meanwhile, US dollar exchange rates remained stable at around 22,800 VND per USdollar thanks to profuse supply and low demand from enterprises.
According to the GSO, February core inflation (excluding food and freshfoodstuff, energy products and State-controlled commodities such as healthcareand education services) increased a marginal 0.2 percent from the previousmonth and 1.51 percent against the same period last year.
Core inflation rate was under 2 percent, reflecting a stable monetary policy,it said.
The GSO forecasted that CPI in March will be higher than February due to surgesin world prices of fuel and possible adjustments in healthcare services in 10cities and provinces in line with the roadmap specified in Circular 37.-VNA
Out of the 11 main goods and service groups, seven experienced price hikesduring the month, including housing and construction material (0.77 percent),transportation (0.56 percent), medicines and healthcare services (0.22percent), culture, entertainment and tourism (0.15 percent), other commoditiesand services (0.14 percent), restaurants and food services (0.11 percent) andhousehold appliances (0.05 percent).
Meanwhile, slight falls were seen in telecommunication (0.07 percent), garment,hats and footwear (0.05 percent) and beverage and tobacco (0.01 percent).Education group remained unchanged.
Do Thi Ngoc, Deputy Head of the GSO’s CPI Department said that the rise inFebruary’s CPI was due to high demand for certain commodities for traditionalrituals in the first lunar month and spring festivals, such as flowers, foodand restaurant services.
Growing demand for travel and higher fuel prices contributed to the increase intransport service costs, Ngoc stated.
However, there were some elements keeping CPI down like reduction in pork pricedue to low demands and limited export to China, abundant supply of fresh vegetablesand weak demand for clothes after the festive season.
In the month, gold price continued to rise in line with the global trend despiterumor that the US Federal Reserve is going to lift interest rate. The price ofgold in the domestic market fluctuated at around 36.9 million VND (1,621 USD)per tael.
Meanwhile, US dollar exchange rates remained stable at around 22,800 VND per USdollar thanks to profuse supply and low demand from enterprises.
According to the GSO, February core inflation (excluding food and freshfoodstuff, energy products and State-controlled commodities such as healthcareand education services) increased a marginal 0.2 percent from the previousmonth and 1.51 percent against the same period last year.
Core inflation rate was under 2 percent, reflecting a stable monetary policy,it said.
The GSO forecasted that CPI in March will be higher than February due to surgesin world prices of fuel and possible adjustments in healthcare services in 10cities and provinces in line with the roadmap specified in Circular 37.-VNA
VNA
