CPI surges sharply in January

VGP – The consumer price index (CPI) saw a month-on-month growth of 0.51% and a year-on-year increase of 2.65%, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.

January 29, 2018 2:57 PM GMT+7

Deputy Director of the Price Statistics Department Do Thi Ngoc attributed the big surge to higher demands before the Lunar New Year Festival.

Ten out of 11 groups of commodities and services saw rising prices. Specifically, medicine and health service experienced the sharpest price hike with 1.83% while education saw the lowest cost increase of 0.03%. Only post and telecom group witnessed a slight surge of 0.09%.

According to the Deputy Director, petrol price adjustments on January 4 and 19, higher power costs, higher medical costs, and increasing demands for housing materials chiefly pushed the CPI up./.

By Kim Anh