Vietnam’s consumer price index increased by 0.92% in August, the highest month-on-month increase in the first eight months of this year, the General Statistics Office announced.
August’s CPI increase was driven by price rises in foodstuff (1.64%), housing and construction materials (1.27%), transportation (2.13%) and health-care services (3.72%), said Do Thi Ngoc, director general of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department, VNS reported.
Other goods and services that recorded slight price increases included restaurant and catering services, education, equipment and home appliances.
The CPI experienced a year-on-year rise of 3.84% in the eight months. The rate, however, was still lower than respective figures seen in the same period of 2010, 2011 and 2012 at 8.61%, 17.64% and 10.41%, respectively, Ngoc said.
She said core inflation rose 0.1% in August month-on-month and 1.31% year-on-year. Eight-month core inflation increased 1.47% from a year earlier, lower than the planned inflation of 1.6-1.8%.
In August, gold prices surged 1.11% from last month but down 2.35% compared to last year’s corresponding period while price of US dollars saw a slight month-on-month decrease of 0.03%.
Trade Deficit
Vietnam’s trade deficit was estimated to hit $2.13 billion in the first eight months of 2017, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
During the reviewed time, Vietnam’s import value jumped by 22.3% year-on-year to $135.63 billion while the export turnover reached $133.5 billion, up 17.9% against last year. The country’s import-export turnover hit $269.13 billion, a yearly increase of 20.1%.
In August only, Vietnam earned some $18.2 billion by shipping goods overseas, up 3% on-year and imported goods valued at $17.8 billion, up 2.3%, thus enjoying a trade surplus of $400 million.
The first eight months of 2017 saw growth of Vietnam’s key exports, with phones and components up 14.8% to $25.96 billion and garments up 7.2% to $16.7 billion.
From January to August, Vietnam also imported nearly 8.65 million tons of oil and petroleum worth of $4.46 billion, up 9.1% in amount and 38.2% in value against last year.
Meanwhile, Asia promises to be an emerging consumer market for Vietnam’s shrimp industry, as stated at a workshop on the world’s shrimp demand and Vietnam’s supply ability, held by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers in Hanoi, on August 29.
Citing a report released by the United Nations concerning the global urbanization outlook until 2025, Carson Blake Roper, a market expert from the European Union, stated that most of the world’s largest cities are concentrated in Asia.
The population of the middle class in Asia is also expected see the fastest rise in the near future, leading to a greater demand for the consumption of products with a high protein content, especially shrimp and fish, Roper said.
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