The CPI for Ha Noi in February rose by 0.47 per cent against the previous month and 1.73 per cent year-on-year.. — VNS Photo Doan Tung

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the two major cities showed a slight increase in February due to the high demand for goods during Tet holidays, according to statistic offices.

Ha Noi Statistics Office reported yesterday that the CPI for Ha Noi in February rose by 0.47 per cent against the previous month and 1.73 per cent year-on-year.

The CPI this month gained the highest increase since September 2014, the office said.

This month, the city saw the highest growth in prices at 2.45 per cent from the goods group of restaurant and catering services. Prices of rice and vegetables rose steeply in the month due to the Tet festival and the high demand while the market saw a low supply of vegetable due to the cold weather.

They were followed by the group of cultural, entertainment and tourism services with rise in prices at 1.12 per cent because of the high price of fresh flowers and big demand for tours during the long Tet holidays taking tour prices up by 8 per cent to 10 per cent, the office said.

It also said two groups which showed a reduction in prices compared with the previous month were the group of housing, electricity, tap water, and fuel, along with building material by 0.62 per cent, while the group of transportation services was down by 3.59 per cent due to lower fuel and gas prices.

In February, the price of gold surged by 2.08 per cent while the price of United States dollar dropped 0.65 per cent as compared with January.

HCM City's CPI

This month, the CPI in HCM City showed a slight increase of 0.05 per cent over the previous month and 0.72 per cent year-on-year because seven goods items showed an increase in prices, the HCM City Statistic Office said.

These included the group of restaurant and catering services up 1.25 per cent, food up 1.55 per cent and the group of beverages and tobacco which was up by 0.79 per cent.

The office said the group of housing, electricity, tap water, and fuel along with building material dropped by 0.05 per cent against the previous month as there was lower demand for building materials and a drop in fuel prices.

The prices of the transport group also dropped steeply at 4.52 per cent due to the huge plunge in petrol and oil prices, it said. — VNS