December CPI down slightly on falling fuel prices

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City saw a decline in inflation in December, as measured by the consumer price index, due to lower fuel prices.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City saw a decline in inflation in December, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), due to lower fuel prices, the Statistics Department has reported.

Customers shopping at a supermarket in HCM City

Ho Chi Minh City’s CPI eased 0.36 percent on a month earlier, with lower fuel prices cited as the cause, the municipal Statistics Department reported on December 22.

But it reported that the CPI rose 1.65 percent year-on-year.

Price declines for December were recorded for transportation and postal, down 3.54 percent month-on-month, followed by housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials, which fell  0.95 percent, culture and entertainment, down 0.22 percent, beverages and cigarettes, down 0.18 percent and other goods and services, down 0.06 percent.

Prices rose 0.7 percent for telecommunications, apparel and footwear rose 0.14 percent, pharmaceuticals and medical services were up 0.06 percent, household utensils, up 0.02 percent, while food and restaurant services grew 0.17 percent, buoyed by higher demand head of the Christmas-New Year holiday season.

In Hanoi, the CPI eased 0.23 percent in December, for a year-on-year increase of 1.55 percent, the Municipal Statistics Office reported.

In December, eight of 11 products and services in the CPI basket saw rising prices.

Telecoms saw the sharpest price rise, up 0.68 percent, with apparel, textiles and footwear up 0.54 percent, other services, up 0.51 percent, entertainment and tourism, up 0.42 percent, household utensils, up 0.26 percent, and beverages and cigarettes up 0.12 percent.

The gold price rose 0.13 percent, month-on-month, while the USD price climbed 0.43 percent.