CPI Forecast to Rise 6-7 per cent in 2006
Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) is estimated to surge by 6-7 per cent in the year 2006, lower than that of last year at 8.4 per cent, the market management group under the Ministry of Trade forecasts.
Earlier, the group estimated that CPI is projected to increase 3 per cent in the first quarter of 2006, a fall of 0.7 percentage point on-year.
According to the group, Vietnam will maintain its flexible price monetary policy in the coming time in order to create favorable conditions to meet economic growth targets.
The group said that domestic prices would be affected by the high material prices in the world market, which would be maintained at high levels in the first months of 2006.
International prices of crude oil will fluctuate at around US$60 per barrel, urea fertilizer at US$230-250 a ton FOB basis, steel ingot at US$360 per ton and gold at US$500 per ounce.
If there’s no big external changes in 2006, CPI will remain at a “reasonable” level, the group’s officials said.
Vietnam’s CPI, or inflation rate, rose by 8.4 per cent this year, going far beyond the initial target, which the National Assembly set at 6.5 per cent early this year. The rate is the same compared to the economic growth rate, which also stood at 8.4 per cent.
In 2004, the CPI index hovered at an extremely high rate of 9.5 per cent while the GDP growth rate only reached 7.7 per cent.
Vietnam Economic Times
Vietnamese
