According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO), the consumer price index (CPI) in March 2020 decreased by 0.72% against that of February 2020; up 3.34% as compared to December 2019, and rose by 4.87% in comparison with that of the same time last year.
Specifically, the prices of seven out of eleven groups of commodities decreased as compared to the previous month. The price index of the group of traffic registered the highest decrease of 4.87%; the group of culture, entertainment and tourism decreased by 1.4%; the group of food and catering services went down by 0.43%; the group of housing and construction materials reduced by 0.25%; the group of footwear and hat decreased by 0.15%; the group of beverage and cigarette went down by 0.11%; and the group of postal services & telecommunication was down by 0.06%.
The prices of the remaining four groups increased as compared to the previous month, of which the group of household appliances and goods was up by 0.09%; the group of medicine and healthcare went up by 0.05%; the group of education increased by 0.04%; and the group of other commodities and services went up by 0.16%.
The core inflation decreased by 0.06% in March 2020 as compared to that of the previous month, and increased by 2.95% over the same time of 2019. The average core inflation for the first quarter of 2020 was up by 3.05% as compared to that of the same period of 2019.
VA