Purchasing power rises due to macro recovery, low CPI

The purchasing power of Vietnam posted a four-year high in the first half of this year due to low inflation.
The purchasing power of Vietnam posted a four-year high in the first half of this year due to low inflation.

Accordingto the General Statistics Office (GSO), the total retail sales of goodsand services reached 73.121 billion USD, rising by 9.8 percent over thesame period last year, or 8.3 percent if inflation is excluded.

Bycomparison, the growth rates of total retail sales were 5.7 percent,4.9 percent and 6.5 percent in the same period for 2014, 2013 and 2012,respectively.

Retail sales of goods contributed 75 percent of thetotal retail sales, with a value of 55.532 billion USD, increasing by10.6 percent. Retail sales of accommodation, restaurant and cateringservices each posted growth of between 5.9 and 9.7 percent.

However,retail sales in the tourism sector declined 6.1 percent over the sameperiod last year, partly due to poor service quality.

Purchasing power was one of the indicators which reflected the macroeconomic recoveries in the first half of this year.

Thiswas a result of the government's policies which aimed to stabilise andrestore the nation's economic growth, even though the global economy hadnot shown a stable recovery and had instead continued to sufferfinancial chaos, currency fluctuations and plunging commodity prices.

Accordingto GSO's General Director Nguyen Bich Lam, the purchasing powerrecovered thanks to the low consumer price index (CPI), reported at 0.55percent – the lowest level achieved over the past 14 years. Consumersgained benefits from the quantity of goods and services controlled bythe low CPI.

Lam pointed out that in Vietnam, although inflation was controlled at a low level, aggregated demand remained at a high level.-VNA

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