Fruits and vegetables on sale at the BigC supermarket in Ha Noi. The consumer price indices rose modestly in two major cities this month. — VNS Photo Thai Ha

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The consumer price indices (CPIs) increased modestly in the country's two largest cities in April, according to the statistics departments in Ha Noi and HCM City.

Ha Noi's April CPI rose by 0.2 per cent month-on-month and was up 0.74 per cent year-on-year, the municipal Statistics Office revealed.

It said the city's CPI had increased for the last two consecutive months, largely due to hikes in the prices of transportation by 2.5 per cent, and housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials by 1.84 per cent.

Home appliances and garments and footwear also saw slight increases of 0.34 per cent and 0.25 per cent, respectively while restaurants and catering services had a monthly decrease of 0.49 per cent as prices of food and foodstuff tumbled.

Meanwhile, the HCM City Statistics Office reported that the city's CPI grew by 0.03 per cent over the previous month and 0.8 per cent against last year's same period.

The office said the increase was triggered by a 2.71 per cent rise in the cost of transport, followed by housing, electricity, water, fuel and building materials which rose by 0.29 per cent; and culture and entertainment surged by 0.12 per cent.

However, price decreases were reported in post and telecommunications (0.17 per cent), beverages (0.15 per cent) and home appliances (0.02 per cent).

Notably, restaurant and catering services experienced the largest fall of 0.54 per cent compared to the month before. — VNS