CPI goes up 4.96% year-on-year in first quarter

Director of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department Vu Thi Thu Thuy said on March 29 that CPI in March alone rose 0.21% from the previous month, 0.9% from last December, and 4.65% from the same period last year.

Eight of the 11 groups of goods and services in the price basket saw their prices increase. The biggest monthly price hike, 7.51%, was recorded in medicine and healthcare services. 

They were followed by education (up 0.75%), housing and construction materials (0.5%), and traffic (0.39%). The four other groups posted price expansion of between 0.03 – 0.06%.

Meanwhile, prices dropped 0.87% in the food and food services, 0.12% in the group of garment, footwear and hat, and 0.02% in beverage and cigarette. 

Thuy said CPI usually declines in March due to lower consumption demand after the Lunar New Year holiday. She attributed this year’s CPI rise in the month to the Government’s scheduled augmentation of medical and educational services’ fees.

Domestic gold prices fluctuated in line with the global market in March. After the US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate, the world’s average gold price in March to March 24 went down US$12.7 from the February average to US$1,224.13 per ounce.

Gold price in March fell by 0.28% month on month to VND36 million (US$1,584) per tael.

USD price also rose from February to VND22,700 – 22,800 per USD in the unofficial market due to stronger demand for the foreign currency to serve import activities.

The GSO said March’s core inflation, which is the CPI excluding food items, energy products and the State-managed commodities of medical and educational services, remained unchanged from the previous month and went up 1.6% from a year earlier.

The core inflation in Q1 rose 1.66% from the same period of 2016.

The GSO predicted a higher increase in CPI in April compared to the March growth rate, fuelled by slight rises in food, beverage and garment prices. Some provinces may also raise school fees in line with the Government’s roadmap.