Reports from the General Statistics Office showed that CPI in May rose 1.88% compared to December last year. Besides, the average CPI in the month compared to the same period last year also increased by 1.59%.
Accordingly, core inflation after excluding food and fresh food; energy and commodity management by the State including health services and education services increased 0.25% in May compared with April, rose 1.87% over the same period and the first five months compared to the same period of 2015 increased by 1.78%.
Among the 11 groups of products and services, transportation services posted the highest growth in May of 2.39 percent, 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 percent); restaurant and catering services (0.36 percent); cultural, entertainment and tourism services (0.34 percent), beverages and tobacco (0.11 percent); and household equipment (0.09 percent).
Deputy head of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department Do Thi Ngoc 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.
In May, domestic gold prices fluctuated along with world prices, which stood at 1,298 USD per ounce in the first days of the month and then fell to 1,272 USD per ounce on May 15. The VND/USD exchange rate has remained stable so far this year thanks to new exchange rate management.
Notably, the price of health insurance services rose 4.72%, since May 1, the State made adjustments base salary to increase from 1.15 million VND/ month to 1,210 million VND/ month.
Although it does not belong to the basket of consumer price, but according to the General Statistics Office, gold price index increased 1.45% in May over the previous month.
