2:25:54 PM | 25/1/2011
Hanoi’s consumer price index in January is estimated to have increased 1.68% from December, driven by higher prices of foods and foodstuff services, according to the municipal Statistics Office.
The index was up 12.36% from a year earlier, the office said.
Ten out of 11 commodities witnessed price increases of between 0.03% and 2.8% this month. Food and foodstuff services prices had the strongest hike of 2.8%, in which foods prices surged 3.56% on-month.
Beverages and cigarettes followed with an increase of 2.5% while prices of other commodities, excluding post and telecom services whose costs stayed almost unchanged, grew between 0.03% and 1.1%.
Analysts attributed the price hike of fresh seafood, foodstuff and vegetables to a long-lasting cold spell, which affected the growth of cattle and vegetables.
In January, gold prices decreased by 0.08% from December, selling at around VND3.59 million per tael while the U.S. dollar dropped by 0.71%.
Hanoi’s CPI surged 9.56% last year, including 1.83% in December, due to high prices of materials for industrial production that increased the cost of production and the prices of goods.
Floods and storms which repeatedly occurred in central Vietnam, animal epidemics nationwide, and fluctuations of U.S. dollar exchange rate are among other reasons, the department said. (Vietnamplus)
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