Consumers shop at a supermarket (Photo: VNA)
The August consumer price index (CPI) in Ho Chi Minh City declined 0.12 percent from the previous month, contributing to an annual 0.66 percent rise in the southern economic hub’s average eight-month index.
The municipal Statistics Office said on August 22 that as six out of the 11 main goods categories had their prices down, noting that transport prices saw the sharpest decrease month on month – 2.4 percent, which was driven by two petrol price cuts in August.
Housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction material prices were down 0.66 percent – the same pace in the culture and entertainment category.
Decreases were also seen in the price of household appliances (0.01 percent) and goods and other services (0.32 percent).
Meanwhile, monthly price increases were recorded in education (1.54 percent), post and telecommunications (0.01 percent), and restaurant and catering services (0.1 percent).
The cost of apparel, hats, footwear, pharmaceuticals and medical services remained almost static this month.
In August, the gold price tumbled 3.46 percent while that of USD picked up 0.45 percent from July.-VNA
