Vietnam's consumer price index this year higher than expected

Vietnam's consumer price index (CPI) is estimated at 0.8 percent this month, raising that of the whole year to 8.4 percent compared with the target of below 6.5 percent, according to the General Statistics Office on Thursday.

The higher-than-expected CPI is mainly attributed to increased prices of imported essential goods, the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, and the continued outbreak of bird flu, which has resulted in higher prices of many kinds of goods, especially food and foodstuffs, in the domestic market.

Among 10 commodities and services used in calculating CPI, index of prices used to measure the change in the cost of basic goods and services in comparison with a fixed base period, food and foodstuff see highest price increase, which is estimated at 1. 4 percent this month. Meanwhile, costs of housing and construction materials are estimated to rise 0.6 percent.

Between January and October alone, prices of imported essential goods, including petroleum products, steel billet, clinker, fertilizers and medicines increased over 25 percent against the same period last year.

Vietnam saw CPI of 9.5 percent last year.

Source: Xinhua