Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s StatisticalOffice on March 30 reported that the consumer price index (CPI) of the country's biggest metropolis increasedby 0.04% in March.
Four out of the 11 commodity groups increased inprice, three remained unchanged, and the rest saw prices fall, it said.
Beverages and tobacco,garments and footwear, housing and construction materials, equipment andhousehold appliances all saw prices jump. Drugs and medicalservices, education, culture and entertainment held steady, while food and catering services, transportation, post andtelecommunications, and other goods and services all fell in price.
Analysing the price index movements of some industry groupscompared to the previous month, the office said that thegroup of food and food services decreased by 0.27% in prices. The price of housing, electricity and water, fuel, construction materialsincreased by 0.53%; gas prices decreased by 3.16%; home repairing services’ prices increased by 0.5%. Meanwhile, prices of equipment and household appliances group increased by0.11%.
On the downward trend, transportation prices decreased by 0.02%, the post and telecommunications group saw prices decreaseby 0.14% compared to the previous month, while the postal and telecommunications servicesremained unchanged.
According to the office, in the first three months of2023, the city’s CPI increase by 4.5% in the first three months of this year./.