Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue (standing) speaks at the meeting of the steering committee on price management on March 28 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The consumer price index (CPI) inMarch fell 0.21 percent from last month, helping the average CPIin the first quarter stay at a three-year low of 2.63 percent year-on-year.
As such, the CPI in March rose by only 0.69percent from last December and 2.7 percent from the year previous.
Meanwhile, the core inflation – which is the CPIexcluding food items, energy products, and state-managed commodities such as healthcareand educational services – dropped 0.06 percent in March against the lastmonth. It increased 1.84 percent in Q1 compared to the same period of 2018.
At a meeting on March 28, the steering committeeon price management said price fluctuations in Q1 matched forecasts as theyrose slightly in January, surged in February, and declined slightly in March,reflecting normal developments in the market that typically see prices soar inthe month of the Lunar New Year festival and return back to usual following.
The retail price of electricity was raised by8.36 percent on average, equivalent to 144 VND per kWh, on March 20 after along period of being kept unchanged. This hike only contributed 0.33 percent tothe CPI growth in March, which had a minor impact.
Facing the sharp increase of global petrolprices, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade boostedthe spending of the petrol price stabilisation fund in March to keep domesticprices stable, helping to ease the power price hike’s impact on the CPI.
Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue applaudedthe close coordination among ministries and sectors in price management, whichhas been conducted in an active manner matching the market’s supply-demandsituation.
He noted that with ministries and sectors’activeness, close coordination, alignment of prices with fluctuations in themarket, and information transparency, the target of keeping this year’sinflation between 3.3-3.9 percent is within reach. –VNA
VNA
