Demand for food was also higher than the previous month because of the long holiday in the beginning of May. — Photo laodong.com.vn

Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — The consumer price index (CPI) in May rose 0.54 per cent over the last month, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported yesterday.

The figure represents a year-on-year increase of 2.28 per cent, the GSO said, adding that the CPI in the first five months of this year surged by 1.59 per cent on an annual basis.

Among the 11 groups of products and services, transportation services posted the highest growth in May of 2.39 per cent, mainly driven by the price hike of petrol and oil, which was adjusted on April 20 and May 5.

Increases were seen in building materials (0.88 per cent); restaurant and catering services (0.36 per cent); cultural, entertainment and tourism services (0.34 per cent); beverages and tobacco (0.11 per cent); and household appliances (0.09 per cent).

Deputy head of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department, Đỗ Thị Ngọc, said the May CPI rise was attributed to the price hike in food due to the drought and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta and mass fish deaths in the central region.

Demand for food was also higher than the previous month because of the long holiday in the beginning of May.

That the demand for travel surged in the holiday also made price of domestic tours higher, up 1.11 per cent, and the price of tours abroad increased 1.01 per cent, while hotel prices went up 0.53 per cent.

The price of health insurance services hiked 4.72 per cent as the State rose the minimum wage from VNĐ1.15 million per month to VNĐ1.21 million per month from May 1.

The Thời báo Kinh doanh (Business Times) quoted Nguyễn Đức Độ, deputy head of the Institute of Economics and Finance, as saying that this year’s inflation would be lower because the increase of the index in the past months was mainly due to the adjustment of health care service prices.

Therefore, if excluding the factor of price adjustment, inflation would be maintained at a low level, he added.

HCM City’s figure

HCM City’s May consumer price index increased by 0.82 percent compared to April, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.6 percent, according to the municipal’s General Statistics Office (GSO).

The office also announced yesterday that the city’s average price index in the first five months of this year rose by 0.86 percent on an annual basis.

Rises were seen in housing, electricity, water, fuel and building materials (1.86 per cent); post and telecommunications (0.4 per cent); food and catering services (0.35 per cent); goods and other services (0.24 per cent); culture and entertainment (0.18 per cent); and equipment and house appliances (0.08 per cent), among others.
On the other hand, prices of some groups of products in May reduced against the previous month, including beverages and cigarettes (0.05 per cent) while pharmaceutical products and health services remained stable. — VNS