CPI in the capital city increases this month as the Tet holiday is approaching. — Photo vietbao.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) – The consumer price index (CPI) in Ha Noi increased this month due to the high demand for the Tet festival next month, the Ha Noi Statistics Office reported on Janurary 21.

The office said the CPI for the capital city this month rose by 0.12 per cent against the previous month and 1.19 per cent year-on-year even after twice having reduced petrol prices.

Cutting the fuel prices forced the transport group to reduce the prices of goods by 2.1 per cent in January, the office said.

Meanwhile, the increase in CPI of Ha Noi this month was due to higher prices from the remaining 11 goods items used to calculate the index.

The highest surge in price was from education at a rate at 3.74 per cent because the People's Committee of Ha Noi increased the school fees for junior high school and high school.

The price of food surged 0.27 per cent in comparison with the previous month as the local market registered a high demand for goods before the Tet holidays, because people stocked some goods they could sell at a higher price in the days before the Tet festival. In addition, restaurants saw an increase in the demand for food during weddings and meetings at the end of the lunar year. These included pork, chicken and seafood.

The prices for the group of housing, electricity, fuel and building material surged by 0.08 per cent month-on-month as the demand for repairs to houses rose before the Tet festival, along with the use of electricity during the cool season.

In January, the price of gold and the US dollar also increased by 0.26 per cent and 0.13 per cent, respectively, against the previous month. - VNS