>> Hanoi’s CPI up 1.93 percent in November
>> NA Deputy talks about inflation and economic policy
>> CPI in October rises 1.22 per cent in Hanoi
The consumer price index (CPI) in November recorded the highest increase Vietnam has seen in the past 15 years.
 |
| CPI forecast to continue rising from now to the year end |
The November CPI surged by 1.86% over October and by 11.9% year-to-year, bringing the January-November CPI up by 9.58% over December 2009 and 8.96% against the average of the same period in 2009.
Increases were seen at between 0.23-3.45% in ten out of eleven groups of commodities in November. Only prices of post and telecom services fell, and only by 0.03% against October.
In November, food and food-related services grew by 3.45% against October, with foods up by 6.02% and food items up by 3.27%, becoming the main factor for the sharp CPI increase in the month. Experts attributed the soar to recent floods which seriously affected the central region’s supply of meat, beef and seafood.
Following these groups, prices of housing and construction materials posted an increase of 1.74%; drink and tobacco 0.94%; garment and footwear 0.9%; household utensils and facilities 0.74%; medicine and health care services 0.59%; transport services 0.29% and other goods and services 0.99%.
After two months of large increases, educational services lagged in November with the lowest rise of 0.23%.
In November, CPI in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City grew by 1.93% and 1.73% respectively compared to October due to high demand but low supply.
In the month, gold and USD prices on the black market saw many fluctuations with 8.67% and 3% respectively against October.
At a National Assembly Q&A session on November 24, the PM said that the CPI surge is due to sharp increases of many commodities in the world market and negative impacts of the recent floods in the central region. The PM has asked ministries, agencies and localities to actively stabilise market prices to curb inflation.
Experts said the sharply increasing CPI is a barrier for Vietnam to curb inflation rates at one-digit this year.
At a meeting in late October, the National Assembly Economic Committee said Vietnam’s inflation rate could reach between 7.9% and 8.4% if the country does not have effective and timely measures to control rising CPI.
In a recent interview with Dan Tri, National Assembly Deputy Tran Du Lich forecast the national inflation rate could be at around 9% in 2010 compared to the 7% set by the National Assembly and 8% by the government.
