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Unseasonably low CPI rise bodes well for year ahead
The Consumer :Price Index (CPI) increased by 1 percent in January against the previous month, the smallest growth for any January during the past 10 years, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
January’s CPI marked the sixth consecutive month of increases of less than 1 percent. This has been seen as a positive result, since the CPI in January each year usually experiences a dramatic surge following the Lunar New Year festival (Tet).
However, in January this year, only four out of 14 commodity and service groups saw an increase of more than 1 percent due to Tet and a rise in the price of electricity which was adjusted at the end of December last year. Specifically, garments, hats and footwear rose by 1.97 percent, housing including rent, electricity, water, gas and construction materials (1.71 percent), foodstuff (1.41 percent) and beverage and tobacco (1.17 percent).
Two commodity and service groups declined in price, including post and telecoms, down by 0.01 percent and food (0.14 percent).
Meanwhile, the prices of eight other groups increased slightly by less than 1 percent.
The slow pace of CPI increase was partly due to the State Bank of Vietnam;s tightened monetary policies.
Experts forecast the CPI for 2012 to be lower than initially targeted, which will help commercial banks reduce lending interest rates and pump more money to businesses that have been grappling with difficulties in securing funds for production.
vov
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