Petrol and salary rise blamed for CPI increase in May

According to the latest report from the Hanoi Statistics Office, Hanoi’s CPI in May increased by 0.16 per cent against April and 7.8 per cent from May 2012.

The post and telecommunications group remained stable, while other groups saw wild fluctuations, the report said.

The two categories of ’food and services’ and ’housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials’ declined by 0.24 per cent and 1.03 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, nine other groups, including tobacco, textiles and apparel and home appliances saw a rise.

The Hanoi Statistics Office said that the fluctuations of Hanoi’s CPI in May were mainly due to increases in price of transportation service (up by 1.32 per cent) and other goods and services (up by an average of 2.75 per cent). These price increases are largely due to a rise in petrol in late April and an increase in the minimum wage in May. The long holiday in late April and early May also contributed to in the areas of hospitality and tourism, they said.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the CPI recorded an increase of 0.06per cent against April and by 7.2 per cent over the same month last year.

Housing, electricity, water, fuel drinks and tobacco declined from 0.06-1.64 per cent while all other groups saw an increase, including other goods and services up by 1.72 per cent, transportation up by 1.22 per cent and culture, entertainment, and tourism up by 0.18 per cent.

In May gold prices decreased by 1.24 per cent in Hanoi and by 3.17 per cent in Ho Chi Minh City from April.