First-quarter CPI falls to three-year low

• Trade surplus exceeds US$500 million in Q1

• Foreign visitors to VN in Q1 up 7%

Specifically, the index decreased by 0.21% in March compared to the previous month and picked up 0.69% and 2.7% against December 2018 and the same period last year, respectively.

In January-March period, the index rose 2.63%, the lowest rate over the past three years thanks to price decrease of seven out of 11 categories of commodities and services.

Prices of food and catering service saw sharpest fall of 1.42%, followed by garments, hats and footwear (down 0.17%), culture, entertainment and tourism (down 0.09%), beverage and tobacco (down 0.08%), telecommunications (down 0.07%), other commodities and services down 0.04% and household furniture (down 0.03%).

Meanwhile, prices of transport climbed up 2.22%, housing and building material up 0.78%, medicine and health service up 0.03% and education up 0.01%.

The GSO also said core inflation in March deceased by 0.06% in comparison with the previous month and witnessed a year-on-year increase of 1.84%.

The core inflation in the first quarter of 2019 rose 1.83% against the same period last year, the GSO added./.

By Thuy Dung