CPI slows down to 2.8% in Q1 (24/3)
06/08/2010 - 166 Lượt xem
Viet Nam’s consumer price index (CPI) is estimated to decrease 0.5 per cent in March after a decline in foodstuff consumption, bringing the three-month index down to 2.8 per cent, according to General Statistics Office.
The office’s preliminary data show that the price of food and foodstuffs, which account for 40 per cent of the "goods basket" used to calculate the CPI, fell 1.1 per cent this month after a sharp increase in the previous month during the Tet holidays.
Other commodities that followed the downward trend included beverages and cigarettes: down 0.5 per cent; transport and postal services: 0.6 per cent; cultural, sport and entertainment activities: 0.7 per cent; and other products and services: 0.4 per cent. However, the prices of garments and footware were reported to increase 0.3 per cent; household appliances: 0.4 per cent; pharmaceuticals and healthcare services: 0.5 per cent; housing and construction materials: 0.1 per cent, and education: 0.1 per cent.
An impressive price increase was recorded in gold, which rose 11.6 per cent in the first three months of the year on the tail of the world’s recent market turbulence. The US dollar value slightly increased 0.1 per cent in March.
Large cities like Ha Noi, HCM City, Hue and Can Tho experienced a CPI reduction with the indexes down 1 per cent, 1.2 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.
The three-month CPI growth of 2.8 per cent was a little lower than the previous forecast by the Ministry of Trade’s Domestic Market Management Department, which estimated the index to be maintained around 3.3 per cent in the first quarter.
The board said the stability would hold as long as the weather remained moderate, bird flu was kept under control and domestic purchasing power resumed after the Tet holidays.
Source: VNAgency
