Vietnam - Inflation reheats in major cities

Consumer price index (CPI) in the country's two biggest cities in August increased again after two consecutive months of decline due to the soaring price of fuel, according to statistics office estimates.

According to the Ha Noi Statistics Office, the capital's CPI rose 0.57 per cent in August against the previous month. Compared with the last month of 2011, the CPI surged 2.86 per cent.

The CPI month-on-month rise in HCM City in August was higher at 0.66 per cent. The rise was 2.14 per cent compared with the last month of 2011, reported the HCM City Statistics Office.

Among 11 commodities that are used to calculate the CPI, prices of most of them rose against last month in both cities. Hanoi saw a price hike for 10 commodities while the figure in HCM City was nine.

The biggest price hike in the capital was seen in housing and building materials which rose 2.89 per cent, followed by transportation services at 1.1 per cent. Month-on-month price increases ranging from 0.33 per cent to 0.65 per cent were reported on garment, footwear, beverages and cigarettes, household goods and utensils, medicine and healthcare services.

In HCM City, the highest price rise of 3.56 per cent was reported for the item of culture-sport-entertainment. Transportation service was followed with a hike of 1.17 per cent.

Statistic office estimates yesterday also reported that Hanoi faced a trade deficit of up to US$8.82 billion while HCM City gained a trade surplus of $1.58 billion in the first eight months of the year.

The Hanoi Statistics Office said the capital fetched an export turnover of roughly $874.5 million in August, up 1.3 per cent over the same period last year. It raised the city's export value in the first eight months of the year to more than $6.65 billion, up 4.3 per cent.

The city, meanwhile, spent roughly $2.07 billion on imports in August, down 1.6 per cent over the same period last year. The capital's import value in the first eight months totalled $15.48 billion, down 6.2 per cent.

HCM City, meanwhile, spent more than $17.68 billion on imports in the first eight months, up 3.7 per cent over the same period last year. It earned nearly $19.27 billion from exports in the period, up 1.2 per cent over the same period last year.

VNS

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