January CPI slides over fuel cost reductions

The index, however, represented an annual gain of 0.94 percent, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). The steepest drop of 3.96 percent was seen in transportation cost due to lower petroleum prices. This accounted for 0.35 percent of the January fall in CPI, said Deputy Director of the GSO's Price Statistics Department Do Bich Ngoc. Housing and building materials showed a 1.09 percent decrease in prices, while post and telecommunications services costs slipped by 0.07 percent. Other commodity groups in the price bracket saw rises ranging from 0.13 - 0.53 percent with the lowest increase at 0.08 percent seen in education services. Ngoc said the fuel cost reductions also left its impact on the costs of food, limiting their growth this month at a low 0.28 percent even though food prices usually rise towards the Lunar New Year, the most important festival in a year. The GSO forecasted February CPI will be stable or even fall slightly compared to the previous month.

(Source: VNA)