HCM City’s February CPI picks up 1%

VGP – The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in February went up 1% against last month and 3.28% in comparison with the same period last year.

February 22, 2013 2:09 PM GMT+7

The CPI rate marked a record low since 1999 even though February hosted the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival and Valentine’s Day which often witness surges in purchasing power.

Only three groups of commodities had price increased over the average rate of 1% including food and restaurant services, beverage and cigarette and transport.

Specifically, the group of restaurant services surged by 1.42% against last month. The group of foodstuff expanded over 2.5% due to high demands for the Tet holiday.

Slight increases were seen in prices of garment and textiles-headwear- footwear, up by 0.7%; culture-entertainment-tourism services, 0.41% and educational products and services, 0.1%%.

Prices of medicines and healthcare services remained stable.

During the month, gold price decreased markedly by 1.30% while the US dollar price rose slightly by 0.02%./.

By Kim Loan