Hanoi’s six-month CPI skyrockets

The capital city’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 16.89% in the first half of this year despite slowdowns in the past two months.

The figure is much higher than the 4.91-percent index recorded in the same period last year, the municipal Statistics Department said.

Gold and the US dollar are among the goods that saw the highest CPI rises during the January-June period, with respective increases of 16.51 and 7.3%.

The CPI hike was mainly attributed to food shortages in the market caused by a prolonged cold spell which killed a large number of cattle early this year. The blue ear epidemic in pigs and bird flu in poultry also contributed to the shortage.

Increased prices of imported materials and fuels and the city’s tardy macro-economic management and monetary policies were put forward as other reasons behind the soaring CPI. (VNA)