Hanoi (VNA) - The February consumer price index (CPI) slipped 0.17percent from the previous month due to falling demand for goods after Lunar NewYear (Tet) holiday, falling petrol prices, and the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) outbreak, according to the GeneralStatistics Office (GSO).

Among 11 groups of products and services in the CPI basket, a decline wasrecorded in six groups: transport service (2.5 percent); culture, entertainmentand tourism (0.43 percent); beverage and tobacco (0.28 percent); garment, headwear and footwear (0.13 percent); housing and building material (0.03 percent);and post and telecommunication services (0.05 percent).

Five groups with higher prices were restaurant and catering service(0.26 percent); other commodities and services (0.17 percent); medicine andmedical services (0.13 percent); household appliances (0.08 percent); andeducation (0.04 percent).

Head of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department Do ThiNgoc said that falling demands for goods after Tet made the prices of garmentand textile, footwear, headwear, beverages and tobacco decrease.

She also said the decline in travel andfestival activities due to the COVID-19 outbreak was behind the fall in pricesof tourism, hotel and entertainment services.

In addition, prices of fresh and processed fruits dropped in the month as exportswere impacted by close control at several border gates during the diseaseoutbreak.

Ngoc added that petrol prices were adjusted down on February 14, contributing to a0.22 percent fall of the CPI.

Meanwhile, there were some factors helping curb the CPIuptrend, Ngoc said, noting that the COVID-19 outbreak since January pushed prices ofmedicine up 0.18 percent from the previous month.

Demand for power and water upped 0.44 percent and 0.64 percent, respectively, inFebruary as schools were closed and students stayed at home as a caution amid the COVID-19 threat, Ngocstated, adding prices of vegetables also rose significantly in February due toshortage of supply caused by hailstones rain in the north and saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta region.

In February, gold prices moved in tandem with global gold prices, surging 2.74percent from January to hover around 4.45 million VND (192.12 USD) per tael. Goldprices increased as investors move to invest in safer assets due to fear of a cloudyeconomic prospect caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The VND/USDexchange rate was kept stable, with one USD exchanged for 23,300 VND, thanks to abundant foreign currency reserves of the State Bank.

The GSO said that core inflation (CPI excluding food items, energy products andcommodities under the State management like medical and educational services) in February inched up 0.17 percent from January, and 2.94 percent from a yearago. The two-month core inflation climbed 3.1 percent from the same period in2019./.