HCMC, Hanoi CPI growth turns negative

Ho Chi Minh City’s consumer price index (CPI) in June 2012 is estimated to have declined by 0.43 per cent against May, the first month-on-month fall after 21 months of constant increases, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office.

Of the 11 total groups of goods used for the CPI calculation, five groups saw price drops including culture and entertainment (-2.62 per cent), housing, electricity, water and fuel (-2.02 per cent), other goods and services (-0.17 per cent) and apparel products and headwears (-0.07 per cent).

On the upside, six remaining groups saw negligible price increases, of which, restaurant and catering services posted the strongest rise of 0.18 per cent, which was due to the 1.18 per cent increase of the restaurant group, while the groups of food and foodstuffs decreased by 0.51 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.

Thus, in comparison with June 2011, the city’s CPI is estimated to have surged only 6.01 per cent.

Of which, the group of restaurant and catering services is estimated to have soared 7.94 per cent, while food and foodstuffs have risen 8.71 per cent and 3.56 per cent, respectively.

Three other groups, education, household appliances, and goods and services, saw respective rises of 8.41 per cent, 7.8 per cent, and 8.67 per cent.

If comparing to December 2011, Ho Chi Minh City’s CPI is estimated to have soared 2.05 per cent, of which, the price index of food is estimated to have fallen 2.53 per cent while foodstuffs inched up 0.4 per cent.

The same situation has also occurred in the capital city of Hanoi.

Hanoi’s CPI was estimated to have fallen by 0.17 per cent month on month in June 2012, dragged down by decrease in prices of housing and construction materials, traffic and food and restaurant services, the municipal Statistical Office said.

This is the first negative month-on-month CPI figure in the last 10 years, as business activities slowed down, and high inventory and credit growth fell.

Hanoi’s June CPI dragged the figure to 2.57 per cent from December 2011 and 3.62 per cent from June 2011.

Three out of the 11 total groups of goods comprising the index, accounting for 70 per cent of the index weight, saw their prices fall in the month.

On the downside, prices of housing and construction materials, including rent, electricity, water, water, fuel and construction materials, tumbled by 1.86 per cent in the month due to a slowdown in the property market.

The prices of transport dropped 1.73 per cent thanks to the petrol price cut, and prices of food and restaurant services fell 0.05 per cent.

On the upside, prices of drinks, cigarettes, and garment products edged up due to seasonal factors.

Though not included in the CPI components, gold prices dropped by 2.69 per cent month on month in June, while U.S dollar prices rose 0.25 per cent in the same period.