>> February CPI records highest rise in 30 months
>> CPI soars in Vietnam’s two biggest cities
Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) will likely rise by 4.4% to 4.5% in the first quarter, and 9% for the entire year, said a local official.
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| Illustration photo (by DTiNews) |
The country’s economy will face major pressure from three different areas: the currency exchange, electricity and petroleum prices, said Le Xuan Nghia, Vice Chairman of the Government’s National Financial Supervisory Committee.
Impact of these factors on the country could lead to a total increase of 2.5% in CPI for the year, he noted.
He, however, said prices of food is actually expected to decrease by 2.5% during the year, which might offset some of the negative impacts on the economy.
According to Nghia, Vietnam’s inflation rate will drastically drop from the third quarter by the late year, when the Government carries out measures to cut interest rates by controlling over public investments and limiting the money supply.
Meanwhile, many experts are worried about high inflation in Vietnam. Vo Tri Thanh, Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), was cited by Dau Tu newspaper as saying that Vietnam should focus on curbing inflation in 2011, and that the task should made a priority from the first quarter.
If the country does not focus on curbing inflation, the macroeconomic uncertainties in 2011 could be even greater than in 2010, Thanh noted.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh said inflation will be the biggest challenge for the nation in 2011.
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.
