Electronic products on sale at a shopping mall in Ha Noi. CPI escalates by 0.14 percent in March, buoyed from the increase of petroleum and electricity prices. — Photo thesaigontimes.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) - Viet Nam's Consumer Price Index (CPI), a calculator for inflation growth, escalated by 0.14 percent in March, buoyed from the increase of petroleum and electricity prices, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The GSO said the figure for the first four months of the year rose by 0.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

The sharpest rise was in transport (2.47 per cent); followed by housing and building materials (0.84 per cent); culture, entertainment and tourism (0.32 per cent); home appliances (0.16 percent); and education (0.01 per cent).

Meanwhile, price decreases were seen in food and restaurants (0.42 per cent), beverage and tobacco (0.01 per cent) and telecommunications (0.09 per cent).

The GSO said CPI growth was curbed by the drop in food prices triggered by an abundant supply yet dwindling demand after the Tet holiday. In addition, steady CPI in April was spurred by a fall in domestic gas prices.

The price of gold decreased as the dollar strengthened. The inter-bank average exchange rate, quoted by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on April 15, was VND 21,458 per dollar. Meanwhile, the rate in free markets stood at VND21,620 per dollar, up 0.74 per cent from March.

According to the GSO, inflation rose 0.07 per cent against March and 2.2 per cent from the same period last year.

The GSO highlighted that the May CPI is likely to continue to rise due to the impact of electricity price adjustments and increasing demand for tourism, food and public transportation during the upcoming long holiday celebrating the Southern Liberation and National Reunification and International Labour Day. — VNS