Southern CPI figures heading southwards

According to Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Department, the city’s consumer price index (CPI) in August dropped by 0.25 per cent against July. It was the second consecutive month that the  CPI declined from the previous month. The index in July saw a slight decline of 0.09 per cent.

Meanwhile, Hanoi’s CPI recorded an increase of 0.15 per cent compared to July, which had also seen a gain of 0.25 per cent from June.

Du Quang Nam, head of the department, said: “The recent fears of diseases of pigs and a sudden drop in telecommunication charges have driven the prices of food and restaurant services down by 0.13 per cent and post and communication services to slump by 4.17 per cent in the southern city.”

The city’s CPI in August, however, still rose by 4.52 per cent compared to the beginning of this year and up 8.21 per cent year-on-year.

Among the commodity groups, the prices of home appliances saw the highest increase of 0.65 per cent, followed by group of electricity-water-fuel with a  0.42 per cent rise and transportation services at 0.38 per cent.

The prices of cultural-entertainment-tourism services in August were up 0.26 per cent and those of garments, hats and footwear jumped by 0.12 per cent and medical services of 0.11 per cent.

The other remaining groups of commodities witnessed a slight increase.

The city’s statisticians also revealed the prices of gold in August declined by 1.3 per cent with the US dollar being up 0.77 per cent over July.

In a related trend, Ho Chi Minh City’s industrial production value gained over VND323 trillion ($16.6 billion) in the first seven months of 2010, contributing to a 13.6 per cent rise over the same period last year, according to Ho Chi Minh City Industry and Trade Department.

In July, the value increased 3.8 per cent against the previous month, rising nearly 17 per cent year-on-year.

At least 24 of the total 27 industries in the city saw positive growth against the same period last year with those performing the highest increases such as the electrical equipment, electrical production and delivery sectors.

Ho Chi Minh City’s software exports alone earned $500 million in revenues in the last seven months. As forecast, the city’s industrial sector would enjoy sharp growth from now to late 2011 due to economic recovery.