Vietnam’s April consumer price index increased by 3.32% since March, the biggest increase in three years.
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| Food service sees an increase of 4.5% in April |
According to the General Statistics Office, April’s rise brings the total increase for the first four months of the year to 9.64%, and 13.95% since the same time last year.
In April, all 11 goods and service groups saw price hikes, with rises of between 0.02% and 6.04% compared to March.
Transportation saw the sharpest increase, with 6.04%, followed by food services with 4.5%, housing and construction materials were up by 4.38%. Meanwhile, post and telecoms saw the relatively modest increase of 1.63%.
The high inflation Vietnam has witnessed this year is partially due to the steadily increasing prices of petroleum and electricity.
Ho Chi Minh City’s consumer price index (CPI) in April is estimated to have risen by 3.16% against March, the highest increase since May 2008, while Hanoi’s April CPI rose by 3.28% in one month, the highest increase since February 2008.
Prices of food services, transportation, and housing and construction materials top the cities’ price increases.
It has been two months since the Government implemented Resolution 11, which was designed to ease the situation, but inflation has continued to rise.
Vo Tri Thanh, Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said if the country does not focus on curbing inflation, the macroeconomic uncertainties in 2011 could be even greater than in 2010.
The Vietnamese National Assembly has set a target for the CPI increase of 7% this year. Last year, the country’s inflation rate was estimated at 11.75%, much higher than the target of 7%, set by the National Assembly or 8% set by the Government.
According to Dr Le Xuan Nghia, Vice Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC), April could be the last month to see rising consumer price index (CPI) if the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the country’s central bank, is determined to maintain its policies on the supply of money. Monetary policies could start to have an effect on the market beginning in May.