Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s consumer price index(CPI) in January grew 0.51 percent from the previous month and 2.65 percentfrom the same period last year, driven by price hikes in 10 of the 11 groups ofcommodities.
The General Statistics Office (GSO) said onJanuary 29 that medicine and health care services recorded the strongest pricerise of 1.83 percent while the slightest increase, 0.03 percent, was seen inthe education group.
Only postal and telecommunication servicesposted a price decline of 0.09 percent.
The GSO attributed the strong CPI growth inJanuary to an average electricity price hike of 6.08 percent on December 1,2017, which contributed 0.06 percent to the overall CPI expansion.
Petrol prices were also raised on January 4 and19, leading to a 2.65-percent rise in fuel prices month on month andcontributing 0.11 percent to the CPI pace.
Meanwhile, consumption demand also surged thismonth as the Lunar New Year festival is nearing. Stronger demand for houserepair for the approaching traditional festival also boosted prices of buildingmaterials and services, along with higher train ticket prices.
In January, persons without health insurancealso suffered from a 2.34-percent monthly growth in health care services costswhich made a 0.09 percent rise to the CPI.
Gold prices rose 1.69 percent from December and6.7 percent from a year earlier while USD prices respectively declined 5.38percent and 5.36 percent.
Core inflation in January rose 0.18 percentmonth on month and 1.18 percent year on year, according to the GSO.-VNA
VNA
