HCM CITY/HA NOI (Biz Hub)— The June CPI in the country's two largest cities increased after recent falls, the General Statistics departments said.

HCM City's CPI is estimated to have edged up by 0.12 per cent from May 2013, the first rise after falling for three consecutive months (-0.29 per cent in March, -0.33 per cent in April and -0.16 per cent in May).

The June figure extended the city's CPI increase by 0.78 per cent from December 2012 – the lowest growth level for the past 12 years. The index increased by 2.78 per cent from June 2012.

In June, food and restaurant services saw the highest rise of 0.33 per cent due to unfavourable weather causing low supplies.

During the month, four out of 11 baskets of goods and services used to calculate the city's CPI saw their prices fall, of which public traffic cost dropped 0.8 per cent, housing and construction materials were down 0.36 per cent and prices of postal and telecoms services fell 0.21 per cent.

The CPI in Ha Noi was estimated to increase 0.1 per cent against the previous month. The index rose 1.7 per cent against December last year and 5.4 per cent against June last year. The capital's CPI last month declined 0.22 per cent against April. — VNS