Customers purchase clothes at Coop. Mart supermarket in the central city of Thanh Hoa. The consumer price indices in Ha Noi and HCM City have both risen in June, according to the statistics office. — VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The June consumer price indices (CPI) in the country's two largest cities have both risen, according to the statistics offices of Ha Noi and HCM City.

Ha Noi's CPI, an indicator of inflation growth in the city, grew by 0.13 per cent in June over the previous month and 0.98 per cent against the same month last year, buoyed by the increase in petrol prices.

Triggered by the petrol price adjustment on May 20, the price bracket saw the sharpest surge in transportation, soaring 3.58 per cent from May.

Meanwhile, price decreases were seen in food and restaurants (0.43 percent), thanks to the abundant supply of food and farm produce.

Slight increases were seen in garments, footwear and hats (0.14 per cent); housing, electricity, water, fuel and building materials (0.06 per cent); home appliances (0.1 percent); beverages and tobacco (0.49 percent); medicine and healthcare services (0.05 percent); culture, entertainment and tourism (0.17 per cent); and other commodities (0.1 percent).

Prices in the post-communication and education sectors remained unchanged.

Ha Noi also posted its strongest economic growth since 2012 for the first six months of the year.

According to the municipal Department of Statistics, the city's gross regional domestic product increased by 7.8 per cent during the period.

The department said that industrial production, construction and service sectors largely contributed to the overall economic growth.

Further, industrial production posted recovery signs this year, the department said, adding that industrial production was expected to maintain its stable growth during the rest of this year.

The index of industrial production for the capital in the year's first half increased by 6.8 per cent over the same period last year. In June alone, the index rose 7.3 per cent over the same month last year and 0.8 per cent against the previous month.

The construction industry also experienced a solid growth of 10.5 per cent, thank to efforts to hasten the construction of transport and urban development projects.

The service sector grew by 8.3 per cent and contributed 4.5 per cent to overall growth, statistics showed.

Consumption demand was also showing signs of recovery, with total retail sales of goods and services jumping 10.5 per cent, or 9.6 per cent, excluding inflation.

Statistics also showed that the city ran a trade deficit of US$6.5 billion during the first half of this year.

The HCM City Statistics Office also reported 0.62 per cent growth in the city's CPI for June and a year-on-year increase of 0.78 per cent.

The rise was attributed to the impact of strong increases in the transport and pharmaceutical-healthcare sectors. Of this, transport rose 3.94 per cent over May due to the petrol price adjustment.

Surges in the city this month include pharmaceuticals and healthcare (3.98 per cent), transport 3.94 per cent, food and catering service 0.32 per cent , drink and tobacco (0.12 per cent), garment and footwear (0.03 per cent) and household appliances (0.01 per cent) and culture and entertainment (0.39 per cent). — VNS