Illustrative image (Photo: Vientiane Times) Vientiane (VNA) – Laos’s inflation in October surged by 36.7% annually, a record in the past 22 years, according to the Lao Statistics Bureau.
In September, the figure stood at 34.5%.
It was attributable to a surge in prices of goods like food, beverages, fuel and other consumer goods. In particularly, fuel prices soared by 95% from the same period last year.
According to Lao economists, the cause of growing inflation was the global economic downturn, conflicts between major powers and the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted economic activities. Moreover, the depreciation of the domestic currency against foreign ones has an impact on prices of imports while disasters also resulted in crop loss.
Since 2021, Laos has become one of the countries with the highest inflation in Southeast Asia./.
