The government&rsquos General Statistics Office (GSO) has mapped out three scenarios for Vietnam&rsquos consumer price index for the remaining six months of 2008.
In the first scenario, the CPI will hit 25.5% for the whole year if it expands 1% a month on average.
In the second scenario, the GSO predicts that the consumer index will add 1.2% each month, pushing up the index to 27.25% for the full year.
In the third or worst scenario, CPI will rise 1.5% a month, surging to 30% by the of this year.
The index in June is estimated to rise 2.14% from May and 18.44% from the of 2007, the GSO announced at the press conference on socio-economic review for the first half.
Most of commodities have surged to new high price levels, but they will continue to rise due to the instability of prices.
In the first six months, average income of laborers in the state-owned sector increased 21.1% on year to VND2.3 million a month, said Nguyen Duc Hoa, deputy minister of Planning and Investment and head of the GSO.
However, people&rsquos living standards are not improved due to rocketing inflation, he said.
As of June 20, Vietnam had 102,300 households with 450,000 mouths in hunger, increasing 55.3% and 59.8% from 2007, respectively.
Vietnam&rsquos economy expanded 6.5% on year in the first half, the GSO said.
To meet the economic growth target of 7% for the whole year, Vietnam needs great efforts to attain GDP growth of 7.4% in the second half this year, Hoa said.
In the period, total investment reached VND265.4 trillion, up 21.1% on year, foreign direct investment (FDI) tripled the same period to $31.6 billion, while trade deficit recorded $14.77 billion.
In the monthly regular meeting starting July 1, the government reiterated that curbing inflation remains the top major task in the second half. (Youth, Vietnam Economic Times, Labor)
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