CPI rises in Ha Noi and HCM City

The consumer price index (CPI) in Ha Noi and HCM City for 2010 rose almost 10 per cent against last year.

CPI in Ha Noi increased 9.56 per cent over 2009, fuelled by a rise of 1.83 per cent in December, said the Ha Noi Statistics Office.

In December, the price of food and catering services rose the most by 3.27 per cent, while housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials rose by 2.86 per cent.

The cost of postal and telecommunications services remained unchanged, but most other commodities like transport, footwear, hats, beverages and cigarettes, home equipment and appliances increased slightly, by 1 per cent.

Economists attributed the CPI increase to the surging prices of input materials and a high USD/VND exchange rate, and also mentioned growing demand in preparation for the traditional lunar new year festival.

In December, the price of gold soared 5.4 per cent over November and 37.02 against the same period of last year. The price of the US dollar rose 3.44 per cent from November and 7.44 per cent over December 2009.

HCM City CPI

The CPI in HCM City jumped 9.58 per cent over 2009, helped by a rise of 1.61 per cent in December, said the HCM City Statistics Office.

In December, the price of textiles, garments, hats and footwear surged 3.17 per cent compared to last month.

The increase was due to sudden high demand for the products in the cold weather, said the office. The price of decorating services also rose by 1.51-4.6 per cent in the build up to festival season.

Food and catering services this month increased by 2.37 per cent, the second time there has been a month on month increase of more than 2 per cent this year.

Inclement weather, disease, high production costs and high gold and dollar prices were the main reasons for the increase in the cost of food and catering services, the office said.

The housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials group rose by 2 per cent.

In December, the price of gold and the dollar soared 5.4 per cent and 3.47 per cent, respectively, over November.

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