Vietnam's consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, climbed 3.77% year-on-year in the first quarter, General Director of the General Statistics Office (GSO) Nguyen Thi Huong told a press conference in Hanoi on March 29.
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam's consumer price index (CPI), a key measure ofinflation, climbed 3.77% year-on-year in the first quarter, General Director of ༒the GeneralStatistics Office (GSO) Nguyen Thi Huong told a press conference inHanoi on March 29.
Huong attributed the rise primarily to a surge indomestic rice prices. This increase mirrored a rise in export rice prices andwas further fueled by higher demand for glutinous and jasmine rice varietiesduring the Kitchen Gods' Day and Lunar New Year holidays. The rice price jumped21.71% annually during the quarter, pushing up the overall CPI by 0.55percentage points. Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like food, energy, and health and education services, remained relatively stable, rising 2.81% annuallyin the first quarter. Looking at monthly figures, the March CPI rose 1.12% compared toDecember 2023 and 3.97% year-on-year. However, it did see a slight decrease of0.23% compared to February. Prices of water, electricity,education, medicines, and health services recorded respective increases of10.58%, 9.38%, 9.02% and 6.51%. Meanwhile, those of food and dining services, education, andtransportation all decreased slightly on a month-on-month basis, by 0.76%,0.29%, and 0.03%, respectively. Year-on-year comparisons also revealed a 1.47% decline in thecost of postal and telecommunication services. On a different note, the prices of gold and US dollarsexperienced significant increases in March, rising 22.71% and 4.32%year-on-year, respectively./.
Increasing public investments, easing monetary policies, stabilising foreign exchange rates, and ensuring sufficient supplies are among the solutions recommended by experts to control the rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) this year.
The consumer price index (CPI) in February rose 1.04% against January and 3.98% year-on-year, fueled by high consumer demand for Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday and a surge in rice prices, the General Statistics Office said on February 29.
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At the press conference (Photo: VNA) 
