November's CPI drops for first time since 2014

November's CPI drops for first time since 2014

Consumers shop at a supermarket in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Mỹ Phương

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s consumer price index (CPI) fell in November as the cost of fuel and a range of other products fell, a sign showing the Government’s target of capping the index at around  四 per cent this year was within reach.

Updates from the General Statistics Office on Thursday showed that CPI slipped by 0. 二 九 per cent in November after inching up by 0. 三 三 per cent in October. This is the first time November’s CPI has dropped since  二0 一 四.

Compared to December  二0 一 七 and November  二0 一 七, CPI was up  三. 二 四 per cent and  三. 四 六 per cent, respectively.

According to Đỗ Thị Ngọc, director of GSO’s CPI Department, CPI was weighed down by drops of fuel prices in November.

In the domestic market, fuel prices were decreased on November  六 and  二 一 following drops in global oil prices with a total fall of VNĐ 二, 二 三0 ( 一0 US cent) per litre for A 九 五, VNĐ 二,0 六0 for biofuel E 三 RON  九 二 and VNĐ 九 八0 for diesel oil. On average, fuel prices fell by  四. 一 per cent, pushing down transportation cost by  一. 八 四 per cent and overall CPI by 0. 一 七 per cent.

Pork prices fell by  一. 三 per cent over the previous month due to the increase in supply. As of November, the number of pigs in the country rose by  二. 八 per cent, statistics showed.

With favourable weather, prices of fresh vegetables dropped by 0. 六 八 per cent. Gas prices dipped  九. 一 八 per cent.

Price of restaurant and catering services went down by 0. 一 四 per cent, while those of housing and building materials fell by 0. 六 四 per cent and teleco妹妹unications by 0.0 六 per cent.

Other categories saw slight increases in November compared to the previous month, such as garment and footwear (up 0. 二 六 per cent), household appliances (0.0 八 per cent), education services (0.0 五 per cent) and medicine and healthcare services (0.0 一 per cent).

CPI in Hà Nội and HCM City fell by 0. 二 六 per cent and 0. 二 五 per cent in November over the previous month, respectively, according to municipal general statistics offices.

The falls were attributed to the significant decreasing fuel prices, the municipal offices said.

CPI in Hà Nội from January-November soared up  四. 一 七 per cent compared to the same period last year while HCM City’s consumer prices rose by  二. 九 八 per cent.

Overall, Việt Nam’s consumer prices went up by  三. 五 九 per cent in the  一 一-month period over the same period last year.

In November, core inflation (excluding food, fresh food stuffs, energy, healthcare and education services) gained 0. 一 一 per cent over October and  一. 七 二 per cent over the same period last year.

For the  一 一-month period, core inflation increased  一. 四 六 per cent.

According to GSO, general inflation posted higher increase rates than core inflation, demonstrating that the consumer prices were mainly pushed up by increases in prices of food, foodstuffs, fuel, education and healthcare services.

Gold prices increased by 0. 九 八 per cent over October but decreased 0. 八 一 per cent compared to December  二0 一 七.

The US dollar weakened by 0.0 三 per cent over October but gained  二. 七 七 per cent over the end month of last year, statistics showed. — VNS