The country’s consumer price index (CPI) in the first half of this year advanced 1.47 percent year-on-year, which is the lowest since from 2016. (Photo: VNA) The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported that thecountry’s consumer price index (CPI) in the first half of this year advanced1.47 percent year-on-year, which is the lowest since from 2016.
Nguyen Ba Minh, head of the IEF, said the Government’ssupport packages for people and groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic havehelped to curb the index growth.
Besides, low basic inflation and dropping food priceshave played a role in balancing the index, given the high prices of oil and gasand construction materials, according to Nguyen Duc Do, deputy head of the institute.
Nguyen Xuan Dinh, from the Price Management Departmentunder the Finance Ministry, and other experts at the meeting shared the viewthat this year’s index growth rate of 4 percent is within the Government’scontrol.
However, they said, more attention is needed due tocomplexity in the second half of this year.
Do said if the CPI is maintained at around 0.27percent in the remaining months of this year, inflation would rose from 2.41percent at present to 3.28 percent at the end of this year, and this year’sinflation would stand at 2.12 percent.
Inflation would average 2.53 percent this year if theCPI increases only 0.5 percent in the remaining months, he pointed to anotherscenario.
Other experts stressed the need to keep a close watchon prices of essential goods and control the prices of such products as steel,oil and gas, aviation and health care services, land and real estate.
The Price Management Department will also step upcredit control in sectors with potential risks like real estate and stockmarket./.
VNA
