Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam recorded ayear-on-year increase of 2.79 percent in the consumer price index (CPI) in2019, the lowest level in the past three years, the General Statistics Office(GSO) said on December 27.

The CPI in December rose 1.4 percent from theprevious month and 5.23 percent from the same period of 2018. In the fourthquarter, it expanded 3.66 percent from a year earlier.

GSO General Director Nguyen Bich Lam considered2019 as a successful year in terms of inflation control as the CPI growth ratehas been kept at under 4 percent amid the price hikes of almost all commoditiesmanaged by the State like electricity, medical services and school fees.

Director of the GSO’s Price StatisticsDepartment Do Thi Ngoc said strong consumption demand in the first two andfinal months of the year to prepare for big holidays boosted prices of someconsumer goods compared to 2018, including food 5.08 percent; beverages andcigarettes 1.99 percent, apparel 1.7 percent, public transport services 3.02percent, and package tours 3.04 percent.

Notably, pork prices climbed 11.79 percent onaverage, which is one of the main contributors to the high CPI growth in thefinal months.

Prices of essential products such as fuel andsteel in the world have also been on the rise. As a result, the import priceindex in 2019 increased 0.59 percent from last year, the export price index up3.01 percent, the industrial producer price index up 1.25 percent, and theagro-forestry-fishery producer price index up 1.31 percent, Ngoc noted.

However, there are also some factors helping tocurb the CPI rise, including the declines in petrol, gas and sugar prices whichhave been aligned with the world market, the GSO said.

It added under the Government’s direction,ministries, sectors and localities have coordinated closely and carried outsynchronous solutions to ensure supply-demand balance, stabilise prices in somelocalities, and flexibly set reference exchange rates.

This year’s core inflation, which is CPIexcluded grain food, fresh foodstuff, energy and the State-managed medical andeducational services, increased 2.01 percent from 2018.

The general inflation grew at a faster pace thanthe core inflation, reflecting that price changes were mainly driven by higherprices of food, medical and educational services, and petrol. The coreinflation in 2019 also shows that the monetary policy remains stable, Lamnoted./.