4:48:11 PM | 23/9/2010
Consumer price index of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, two biggest cities in Vietnam, in September is estimated to have risen at 0.96% and 0.97%, respectively, from August, the highest level in recent six months.
Hanoi’s index has increased 9.05% from a year earlier while HCM City has witnessed an on-year rise of 7.59% and a nine-month increase of 5.54%.
The CPI hike is mostly attributed to the soaring costs of educational products amid the start-up of the 2010-2011 school year, which was marked with an increase of tuition fees by private schools and vocational colleges and universities.
Prices of educational products took the lead among others in both Hanoi and HCM City, rising 7.17% and 5.57% on-month, respectively.
The Hanoi Statistics Office said nine out of 11 groups of goods and services saw slight increase of below 1% in prices while that of post and telecommunication services stayed unchanged.
The office predicted Hanoi’s full-year CPI at 8.63%, compared to a 7% target set by the municipal People’s Committee early this year. The index increased at a slow monthly pace of 0.15% in Aug.
In HCM City, price hikes of 0.02% and 1.51% were reported for nine groups of goods and services, driven by high local demand amid the four-day National Day holiday, the municipal statistics office said, adding that the city’s CPI had fallen in the previous two months.
In September, gold prices edged up 3.57% in Hanoi and 3.79% in HCM City. The U.S. dollar, meanwhile, gained 1.35% and 1.42%, respectively.
Statistics on Vietnam’s consumer price index are expected to be released in next days. Analysts expected the index to increase at less than 1% since prices of some essential goods went slower than earlier estimated. (Vietnamplus)
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