Ho Chi Minh City’s customer price index (CPI) in October decreased slightly by 0.03 percent against the previous month, but rose by 2.96 percent compared with one year ago.

According to the municipal Statistics Department, the decline was recorded in five out of the 11 commodity categories, including transport (down 1.11 percent), goods and other services (0.12 percent), housing, electricity, water, and building materials (0.09 percent), restaurants and services (0.08 percent), and apparel and footwear (0.02 percent).

The department attributed the decline to the downward adjustments in petrol prices in October, which had strong impact on transportation and services costs.

The highest price rise of 1.28 percent was seen in the group of educational tools and services.

It was followed by household utensils and equipment (up 0.09 percent), cigarette and beverages (0.06 percent), and entertainment services (0.02 percent).

Meanwhile, prices remained for pharmaceuticals and healthcare services, and posts and telecommunication.

In October, gold prices declined by 1.35 percent month-on-month, while the price of the USD exchange rate rose by 0.23 percent.-VNA