Vietnam CPI to rise 0.22pc in Aug

HANOI, Aug 24 (Xinhua): Vietnam's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in August is estimated to hike 0.22 per cent over July and 4.31 per cent over the same period of 2013, Vietnam's General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on Sunday.
The figures made the CPI rise by 1.84 per cent over the level of December 2013, and drove the eight-month CPI to increase by 4.73 per cent year-on-year, said the office in a report on monthly statistical information posted on its website on Sunday.
Of the eleven items in the CPI calculation basket in August, price of food and foodstuff group is expected to have the highest increase of 0.45 per cent over the previous month.
Prices of other seven groups are expected to experience hikes between 0.06 per cent and 0.32 per cent in August including group of beverage, cigarette, group of garment, footwear, hat, group of household appliances, goods, group of medicine, healthcare, group of education, group of culture, entertainment, tourism, as well as group of other goods and services.
Meanwhile, in August, three groups are projected to have their prices increase during the month including housing and construction materials (down 0.31 per cent over July), traffic ( down 0.06 per cent), postal services and telecommunication (down 0. 02 percent), said GSO.
Though not included in the CPI calculation basket, the prices of gold and US dollars in August are likely to continue decreasing by 0.34 per cent and 0.26 per cent over the previous month, respectively.
In August, the country's two major economic hubs, capital Hanoi and southern Ho Chi Minh City, are expected to post a CPI increase of 0.19 per cent and 0.05 per cent month on month, respectively.