According to the Ha Noi Statistics Department, the capital’s May CPI rose 0.24 per cent over April and the index surged 12.91 per cent over the same period last year.

Prices of eight out of the 10 commodities and services used to calculate the CPI rose in May. Transportation, post and communications had the highest increase rate of 2.31 per cent due to several petrol price hikes recently.

In May, o­nly the price of food and foodstuff decreased 0.25 per cent. Education costs in the capital remained unchanged. Meanwhile, May’s CPI in HCM City rose 0.58 per cent over April, a 2.47 per cent rise compared to the first month of the year, according to the city’s Statistics Department.

The prices of nearly all of the 10 commodities and services used to calculate the CPI in HCM City increased in May. As in Ha Noi, transportation, post and telecommunications costs saw the highest increases, at 2.08 per cent. Housing, electricity, fresh water, fuel and construction materials rose 1.37 per cent and household appliances, 1.17 per cent. Prices increased slightly, by 0.34 per cent, for food and foodstuff, and 0.48 per cent for beverages and cigarettes. The department said price hikes were due to higher consumer demand during a two-day holiday earlier this month. The o­nly HCM City price drop occurred in cultural activities, entertainment and tourism, which fell 0.14 per cent. Prices for other goods and services remained stable. In May the price of gold rose 0.2 per cent while the price of the US dollar against the dong jumped 1.96 per cent, compared to April.

More rises forecast

The price of many goods, especially imports and goods produced using imported materials, are expected to increase next month, according to manufacturers and traders.

Manufacturers said they planned to raise their prices due to a price hike in input materials, transport freight and a surge in price of the US dollar against the dong. The price of the dollar against the dong in April increased 1.25 per cent.

Industry insiders said the price of materials used for animal feed, including oil-cake, corn and broken rice, had increased roughly 50 per cent over April. Oil-cake surged from US$230 to $461-495 per tonne, and corn rose from $120 to $198 per tonne.

Costs of chemicals and input materials used in the packaging, plastic and cosmetic industries are also up 10-15 per cent over last month.

Deputy director of Sai Gon Cosmetics Joint Stock Company, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao, said the price of input materials for many industries had surged 20-30 per cent over the same period last year, so a 5-10 per cent price hike for finished goods was not enough to offset the additional costs.

Supermarkets said they would have to raise prices starting next month because suppliers were hiking their prices. Director of the Ha Noi Supermarket, Nguyen Thi Thanh Hai, said that more than 100 suppliers had asked her supermarket to raise prices. Sai Gon Co-op and Ha Noi Supermarket said they would have to lift prices of consumer goods and food by 7-10 per cent next month when current stock is used.