Oct CPI gains 2.98 percent due to impacts of storms, floods

Hanoi (VNA) – The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October gained 0.41 percent over September and 2.98 percent year-on-year, largely driven by impacts of storms and historic floods in northern and central Vietnam earlier this month.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), price hikes were seen in all 11 main goods and service groups with the highest growth of 2.14 percent reported in medicines and healthcare. It was followed by fuels (1.44 percent), housing and construction materials (0.63 percent), transportation (0.61 percent), food and catering services (0.31 percent), and education (0.19 percent).

Excessive demand for foods, particularly in big cities, during the current wedding season was behind the surge besides the impacts of the disaster, said Do Thi Ngoc, Director of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department.

In addition, the Ministry of Health had issued a circular saying that people without health insurance or insured citizens who have opted for out-of-pocket payment would have to pay the full, non-subsidized cost of treatment, starting from June this year.

The decision, slated to come into effect in HCM City and other 14 provinces from October, coupled with increase in service prices at private clinics in the Central Highlands provinces of Kon Tum and Gia Lai triggered a 2.79 percent price rise in healthcare.

Total average CPI for the first 10 months of 2017 has posted a year-on-year increase of 3.71 percent.

Core inflation that is the CPI excluding foods and beverages, energy and State-controlled services like healthcare and education, in October rose by 0.06 percent from the last month, and 1.32 percent year-on-year.

The average core inflation in the first 10 months was estimated at 1.44 percent, lower than the previous forecast of 1.6 – 1.8 percent indicating the effectiveness of the current monetary policy.-VNA