The latest report on socio-economic development from the General Statistics Office reveals that the consumer price index (CPI) remained stable in August compared to the previous month. However, compared to December 2023, CPI increased by 1.89%, and by 3.45% year-on-year.
Out of the 11 main commodity and service groups, 10 witnessed a slight increase in their price index, while the transportation group experienced a decrease.
Specifically, the ten groups with an increased price index are as follows:
– The group of housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials saw a 0.29% increase. This was mainly due to a 0.45% rise in rental prices as demand for housing increased in some localities with the upcoming new school year, along with a 0.67% increase in gas prices following adjustments to match global market prices from August 1st, 2024.
Additionally, some items saw a decrease in price compared to the previous month, including a 6.02% drop in the price of kerosene due to price adjustments, a 0.76% decrease in electricity prices, and a 0.17% drop in water prices as consumption decreased during the rainy season.
– The group of food and catering services experienced a 0.27% increase (contributing to a 0.09 percentage point rise in the overall CPI). This included a 0.19% increase in food prices, a 0.28% rise in food prices (contributing 0.06 percentage points to the overall CPI increase), and a 0.26% increase in dining out prices.
– The group of other goods and services saw a 0.2% increase, with notable rises in the prices of administrative and legal services (1.91%), jewelry (1.89%), environmental sanitation services (0.52%), and repairs for watches and jewelry (0.28%). Conversely, prices for bags, wallets, and suitcases decreased by 0.18%, and watches decreased by 0.05%.
– The group of medicines and healthcare services increased by 0.18%, with inpatient treatment prices rising by 0.29% and outpatient treatment prices by 0.11%.
– The group of postal and telecommunications services rose by 0.15%, with mobile phone prices increasing by 0.52% and fixed-line phone prices by 0.25%.
– The group of beverages and tobacco experienced a 0.15% increase, mainly due to higher consumer demand during the Vu Lan holiday and the peak tourism season.
– The group of education saw a 0.14% increase, with prices of writing instruments rising by 0.5%, paper products by 0.45%, and other stationery by 0.2%.
Additionally, education service prices increased by 0.13% as some public universities, private high schools, and kindergartens in several provinces raised their tuition fees for the 2024-2025 academic year.
CPI Growth Rate in August 2024 Compared to the Previous Month
– The group of culture, entertainment, and tourism experienced a 0.12% increase, mainly driven by a 0.72% rise in overseas tourism prices, a 0.38% increase in sports equipment prices, a 0.24% rise in hotel prices, and a 0.16% increase in prices for movies and concerts. On the other hand, domestic tourism prices decreased by 0.29% as companies offered discounts to stimulate demand.
– The group of household appliances and utensils saw a slight increase of 0.09%, attributed to higher labor costs.
– The group of textiles, garments, hats, and footwear rose by 0.05% due to increased demand as the new school year approached. Specifically, footwear prices increased by 0.53%, footwear services by 0.44%, clothing services by 0.37%, fabric prices by 0.25%, and hats by 0.22%.
Notably, the transportation group was the only one to witness a decrease of 1.98% in August (impacting a 0.19 percentage point reduction in the overall CPI). According to the General Statistics Office, this was mainly due to a 7.05% drop in diesel prices, a 5.83% decrease in domestic gasoline prices following price adjustments during the month, a 4.09% reduction in rail passenger transport prices, and a 0.28% fall in used car prices.
Conversely, some items within this group saw price increases, including a 0.4% rise in car parts prices, a 0.91% increase in vehicle maintenance service prices, and a 1.7% hike in driving license fees.
Core inflation in August 2024 increased by 0.24% compared to the previous month and by 2.53% compared to the same period last year.
On average, for the first eight months of 2024, core inflation rose by 2.71% compared to the same period in 2023, lower than the average CPI increase of 4.04%. This was mainly due to increases in the prices of food, electricity, educational and medical services, and gasoline, which are excluded from the calculation of core inflation.
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Double Delight as Exchange Rates Cool Off
The Vietnamese currency market has witnessed a positive trend recently, with the VND/USD exchange rate cooling off. The USD has dropped below the 25,000 VND mark. On August 29, 2024, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) set the daily reference exchange rate at 24,221 VND per USD, an increase of 9 VND from the previous session, but a decrease of 29 VND from the previous week. The SBV’s trading arm maintained the buying rate for USD at 23,400 VND while increasing the selling rate to 25,382 VND per USD.
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Is the Gold Market Settling After a Turbulent Week?
After a string of impressive performances throughout the summer, with a 2% increase in July, analysts and traders tempered their optimism for gold in early September.
