Vietnam’s March consumer price index (CPI) inched up 0.15 percent from amonth earlier, pushing first-quarter inflation by 0.74 percent.
Contributing to the rise were food and restaurant services (up 0.36percent), housing and construction materials (0.16 percent) andculture-entertainment-tourism (0.18 percent), partly due to increases ina broad range of items during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday,according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Major dips included beverages & cigarettes, garment & headwear,transportation, and telecommunications with respective decrements of0.11 percent, 0.04 percent, 0.31 percent, and 0.02 percent.
Meanwhile, little change was seen in household appliances and utensils, medicine and medical services, and education.
Comparing quarters, restaurant and dining services registered anannual hike of 1.17 percent, below that recorded in previous years.
ViceDirector of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department Do Bich Ngoc said thesimultaneous upward adjustment of electricity and fuel costs inmid-March will have implications for the April CPI figure.
GSO Director General Nguyen Bich Lam warned of the risk of fuel hikes,which he said would potentially deter the government’s deflationaryefforts.
He urged the government to direct theMinistries of Finance and Industry and Trade to monitor market prices,especially of necessities, while carefully considering the timing forprice adjustments.-VNA
Contributing to the rise were food and restaurant services (up 0.36percent), housing and construction materials (0.16 percent) andculture-entertainment-tourism (0.18 percent), partly due to increases ina broad range of items during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday,according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Major dips included beverages & cigarettes, garment & headwear,transportation, and telecommunications with respective decrements of0.11 percent, 0.04 percent, 0.31 percent, and 0.02 percent.
Meanwhile, little change was seen in household appliances and utensils, medicine and medical services, and education.
Comparing quarters, restaurant and dining services registered anannual hike of 1.17 percent, below that recorded in previous years.
ViceDirector of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department Do Bich Ngoc said thesimultaneous upward adjustment of electricity and fuel costs inmid-March will have implications for the April CPI figure.
GSO Director General Nguyen Bich Lam warned of the risk of fuel hikes,which he said would potentially deter the government’s deflationaryefforts.
He urged the government to direct theMinistries of Finance and Industry and Trade to monitor market prices,especially of necessities, while carefully considering the timing forprice adjustments.-VNA
