Women buy food at Ba Chieu Market in HCM City where the price of food catering services decreased by about 1 per cent this month. — VNA/VNS Photo The Anh

HA NOI (VNS) — The consumer price index (CPI) of Ha Noi and HCM City declined this month mainly due to price decreases in food catering services and housing commodity groups.

Ha Noi's CPI decreased by 0.15 per cent over the previous month, but recorded a rise of 5.6 per cent over the same period last year.

HCM City posted a 0.33 per cent fall from March, but a rise of 2.44 per cent over the same month last year.

Deflation was seen for two consecutive months in both cities, mainly attributed to decreasing demand for food catering services as summer approached together with the threat of bird flu.

In Ha Noi, the price of food catering services fell by 0.65 per cent. The price of pork currently ranges from VND120,000-130,000 (US$5.7-6.2) per kilogramme and chicken costs VND120,000-145,000 ($5.7-6.9) per kilogramme.

The gas price – cut by VND20,000 ($0.95) per 12-kilogram cylinder at the beginning of the month – also lowered the price index of housing, electricity, fuel and building materials by 0.14 per cent.

In HCM City, the price of food catering services decreased by about 1 per cent.

However, the transport service saw strong increases after recent hikes in oil and petrol prices (1.17 per cent and 1.23 per cent in Ha Noi and HCM City, respectively).

The nation's CPI for the first three months of this year rose by 2.39 per cent, lower than the average growth of 4.2 per cent recorded during the same time in the 2004-12 period. The Government aims for CPI to reach about 6-6.5 per cent this year.

According to the Ministry of Finance, scheduled increases of hospital fees and tuition in some localities continue to put pressure on CPI. — VNS