January CPI up 0.46%

The prices of nine out of the 11 goods groups used for calculations, including pharmaceuticals and healthcare, housing and construction materials, and education, increased, with the highest rise recorded in transportation, at 3.21%. Meanwhile, a downturn was seen in food and catering services and post and telecommunications. The office said that high demand for goods at the end of the lunar year had pushed the prices of food, beverage, and clothes up. The GSO also forecasted that February's CPI would continue rising as the prices of food, foodstuff, entertainment, and catering services increase during the first lunar month.