City’s CPI falls to 21-month low
By Minh Tam - The Saigon Times Daily
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| Shoppers buy foods at a supermarket in HCMC. The CPI in HCMC this month has declined 0.43% month-on-month, the fi rst such fall in 21 months - Photo: Minh Tam |
HCMC – The consumer price index in HCMC this month has declined 0.43% month-on-month, the first such fall in 21 months.
Statistics announced by the HCMC Statistics Office on Wednesday indicate five of 11 groups of goods are down while three others have inched up and the remainder has remained unchanged. June is the first month since September 2010 to see consumer prices dipping.
This month has seen the entertainment services group in the city falling 2.62%; housing, power, water and gas decreasing 2.02%; goods and services dipping 0.17%; and garments plummeting 0.07%.
Of those goods whose prices have gone up month-on-month, foods and food services have marked up the most, at 0.18% due to a 1.18% rise in demand for food catering services though prices of foods and foodstuffs contracted 0.51% and 0.3% respectively.
Drinks, tobacco, drug, healthcare and post and telecom services have seen their prices unchanged. Compared to the end of last year, the index has surged 0.25%, with food slipping 2.53% and processed products growing 0.4%.
In comparison with the year-ago period, the index has soared 6.01%. And the highest year-on-year rise is seen in food catering services at 7.94%, education at 8.41%, household equipment at 7.8% and other goods and services at 8.67%.
The average growth of the six-month CPI is 11.12%, down from the 12.62% recorded in the same period last year. The Hanoi Statistics Office earlier announced the capital city’s CPI in June tumbled 0.17% against May, marking the second month in the year’s first haft Hanoi has seen consumer prices declining month-on-month.