Four-month CPI growth lowest in three years: GSO

The CPI in April was 0.31 per cent higher than in the previous month and 1 per cent higher than in December 2018, representing growth of 2.93 per cent year on year.

The CPI growth in April and the average growth in the first four months this year showed the stability of Viet Nam’s economy even as the world faced price fluctuations and petrol price increases, said head of the GSO’s Department of CPI Do Thi Ngoc.

In April, some goods and services showed low levels of price growth due to the State Bank of Viet Nam’s flexible monetary policies, Ngoc said.

Month-on-month increases were recorded in nine of the 11 main groups of consumer goods and services, including transport (4.29 per cent), housing fees and construction materials (0.6 per cent), household equipment and utensils (0.11 per cent) and culture, entertainment and tourism (0.1 per cent).

Groups that saw prices rise also included beverages and cigarettes (0.08 per cent), garments, headwear and footwear (0.06 per cent), education (0.05 per cent), medicine and healthcare services (0.01 per cent) and other goods and services (0.15 per cent).

In contrast, prices of food and food services fell 0.57 per cent and postal and telecommunication service prices declined 0.07 per cent.

Ngoc said the price hikes on April 2 and 17 pulled petrol prices this month up by 9.88 per cent from March.

Prices of train tickets also climbed by 2.76 per cent due to higher travel demand during the two national holidays in the middle and end of April, contributing to the overall growth of 4.29 per cent in transport prices.

Additionally, electricity prices increased by 1.85 per cent from last month following the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s price hike decision in late March.

Some factors helped to curb the CPI uptrend, Ngoc said, noting that pork prices dropped 3.07 per cent as a result of the spread of the African swine fever. Sugar prices decreased 0.67 per cent because of lower prices on the global market and weaker demand amid abundant supply. High supply also led to lower fruit and vegetable prices.

In April, domestic gold prices fluctuated in line with global prices, falling 0.5 per cent month on month to VND36.7 million per tael of SJC gold. The reduction was due to drop in the global gold price as stock exchanges in many countries were in recovery.

The GSO said core inflation – which is the CPI excluding food items, energy products, and State-managed healthcare and education services – in April increased 0.09 per cent against March and 1.88 per cent year on year.

It rose 1.84 per cent in the first four months of the year compared to the same period of 2018.