Hanoi (VNA) – The consumer price index (CPI)climbed 3.85 percent year-on-year between January and September, the highestnine-month CPI growth over the last five years, the General Statistics Officereported.

At a press conference in Hanoi on September 29,GSO General Director Nguyen Thi Huong said the September CPI increased 0.12percent from last month, 0.01 percent from December 2019, and 2.98 percent froma year earlier.

Six of the 11 groups main consumer goods andservices saw month-on-month price hikes in September: beverages and cigarettes(up 0.05 percent); garments, headwear and footwear (0.1 percent), housing andconstruction materials (0.62 percent), medicine and healthcare services (0.01percent); education (2.08 percent); and other goods and services (0.02percent).

Five other groups recorded price declines: foodand restaurant services (down 0.31 percent), household appliances and goods(0.06 percent), transport (0.12 percent), postal and telecom services (0.02percent); and culture, entertainment and tourism (0.2 percent).

Huong attributed the CPI growth in Septemberpartly to the scheduled increase of educational services, higher householdelectricity prices due to stronger demand caused by hot weather, and moreexpensive domestic rice prices as a result of export rice prices reaching thehighest level since 2011.

The third quarter’s CPI grew 3.18 percent fromthe same period last year.

In the nine months, the index rose 3.4 percentyear on year in urban areas and 4.3 percent in rural areas, she noted, addingthat the core inflation (CPI excluding grain food, fresh food, energy, andState-managed medical and educational services) went up 2.59 percent.

Contributors to the CPI hike between January andSeptember include higher food, beverage, cigarette and apparel prices due tostrong demand in the run up to the Lunar New Year holiday and insufficient porksupply, along with higher prices of some medical supplies and medicine as aresult of the COVID-19 outbreak, the GSO chief said.

Meanwhile, lower fuel prices, weaker traveldemand due to the COVID-19 impact, and power price cuts to assist pandemic-hitpeople and businesses helped curb the CPI uptrend.

The official noted that facing complex COVID-19developments, under the Government’s directions, sectors and all-levelauthorities have actively implemented a number of synchronous solutions tocontain the pandemic and stabilise the market.

The nine-month overall inflation grew at afaster pace than core inflation, showing price fluctuations were mainly drivenby higher food and petrol prices. Additionally, the core inflation’s gradualdecline from 3.25 percent in January to 1.97 percent in September reflected themonetary policy’s effectiveness over the period./.