Hanoi (VNA) – The consumer price index (CPI) inched up 009 percent in October against the previous month, and 247 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO).

Among 11 groups of products and services in the CPI basket, a decline was recorded in the groups of restaurant and catering service (013 percent); transportation (008 percent); post and telecommunication service (003 percent); culture, entertainment and tourism (018 percent).

Meanwhile, six groups seeing higher prices were education service (152 percent); houses and building materials (029 percent); property maintenance materials and services (029 percent); beverage and tobacco (008 percent); garment, hat and footwear (006 percent); and other goods and services (009 percent).

Head of the GSO ’s Price Statistics Department Do Thi Ngoc said the rise in October’s CPI was fueled by a surge in tuition fee for the 2020-2021 academic year in nine centrally-run cities and provinces, high prices of vegetables due to impacts of the sixth and seventh storms, and increase in gas prices to keep up with swings in the global market.
Meanwhile, there were some factors helping curb the CPI downtrend, including a decline in fork prices (284 percent) and petro prices (081 percent).

In October, gold prices moved in tandem with global gold prices, which underwent erratic fluctuation on the threshold of the US President Election and the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The VND/USD exchange rate rose 007 percent, with one USD exchanged for 23275 VND.

According to the GSO, core inflation (CPI excluding food items, energy products and commodities under the State management like medical and educational services) fell from 325 percent in January to 188 percent in October.

The country’s CPI went up 371 percent during January-October, with CPI in urban areas surging 329 percent, and that in rural localities increasing 413 percent against the same time last year. Core inflation rate grew 252 percent year-on-year./.