Shopping at a supermarket in Hanoi (Illustrative image. Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – 2018 is considered asuccessful year in controlling inflation as the average consumer price index(CPI) rises by 3.54 percent from 2017 and 2.98 percent from last December,meeting the CPI growth target of under 4 percent.
The information was released at a pressconference of the General Statistics Office (GSO) in Hanoi on December 27.
Director of the GSO’s Price StatisticsDepartment Do Thi Ngoc pointed out several factors that lead to price hike,including the scheduled increases of medical service prices, tuition fees, andthe region-based minimum wage for employees at businesses that has subsequentlyled to higher prices of household appliances and house repair, electricity andwater equipment instalment and repair, and domestic help services.
Other contributors to the CPI expansion includeprice rises of food, public transport services, gas, house rental, petrol andtourism services.
GSO Director General Nguyen Bich Lam saidsectors and authorities at all levels have actively taken measures to keep theCPI expansion at less than 4 percent as targeted by the National Assembly.
In 2018, the US Federal Reserve raised thebenchmark interest rate four times, which has made the US dollar appreciateagainst other currencies, thus resulting in a higher USD/VND exchange rate.
However, thanks to the State Bank of Vietnam’s effortsin setting the daily reference exchange rate in comparison to eight keycurrencies, the USD price in the domestic market has still been kept within thetrading band of +/-3 percent.
Meanwhile, domestic gold prices have fluctuatedin line with global ones, Lam noted.
The core inflation, which is the CPI excludingfood items, energy products and State-managed commodities (healthcare andeducational services), in December increased by 0.09 percent from last monthand 1.7 percent from the same period last year. The whole year’s figure climbed1.48 percent from 2017, according to the GSO.
During its recent session, the National Assemblystill maintained the inflation target of about 4 percent for the next year.–VNA
VNA
