CPI picks up 1.79% in eight months, lowest in five years: GSO

The August index edged up 0.25% month-on-month, and 2.82% year-on-year, largely owing to higher prices of food and foodstuff in cities and provinces under social distancing measures, according to the GSO.

The August CPI in urban areas rose 0.34% this month, higher than the 0.14% increase in rural areas.

Meanwhile, the eight-month core inflation rose by 0.9% year-on-year.

During the January-August period, the average fuel price inched up 22.86% year-on-year, pushing the CPI up 0.82 percentage point.

Education service cost grew 4.44% during period, adding 0.24 percentage point to the CPI. while rice prices grew 6.6%, contributing to a rise of 0.17 percentage point in the CPI.

In contrast, eight-month prices of food declined 0.38% from the same period last year, resulting in a 0.08-percentage-point slide of the CPI. It was because of drops in prices of staples, for example, pork (down 6.4%), and chicken (down 1.34%).

As the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has made several rate cuts to support consumers affected by COVID-19, the eight-month electricity price slid 0.83% year-on-year, making the CPI to edge down 0.03 percentage point.

With travel restrictions continuing to be in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, rail tickets, airfares and prices of holiday packages fell by 0.4%, 19.85%, and 2.76%, respectively.

The average gold price surged 13.8% year-on-year during the period.