CPI in October down 0.2%, may surge in remaining months: GSO

The CPI in the two remaining months of the year may surge as factors driving the figure down during social distancing will no longer have any impacts.

In October, food and catering services decreased by 1.28% from the previous month largely owing to drops of 0.25% and 9.38% in the prices of rice and pork, respectively, thanks to abundant supplies.

Housing and construction materials fell by 0.26%, due to a cut in housing rental rates to support people at the time when social distancing order remained in place to stamp out the spread of COVID-19.

Electricity prices were also reduced because the arrival of autumn affected demand for power and water compared to the previous month. Post and telecommunications inched down 0.04%.

Among eight groups of commodities and services experiencing rising prices last month, transport witnessed the highest month-on-month increase of 2.51% attributed to the fuel price hike.

Education inched up 0.25% against September.

The GSO also pointed out that core inflation in October saw a month-on-month decline of 0.17% but a year-on-year rise of 0.5%. In the first 10 months, the figure increased 0.84% compared to the same period last year, reflecting price movements driven by the hikes of food, petrol and oil and gas prices.

Core inflation in October and the first 10 months of 2021 compared to the previous year stood at the lowest level since 2011.

As November-December will be a time to focus on production, travel and procurement serving for major holidays, CPI in tourism services and entertainment is projected to see growth.