March Inflation to Rise by 11.25 Percent

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Mar. 25 – The Vietnamese government said that consumer prices in March increased by an estimated 11.25 percent compared to last year's figures, making it the lowest annual rise since November 2007.

Compared to last February, prices in March eased by 0.17 percent after an increase of 1.2 percent in January. Moreover, this month, food prices rose by almost 24 percent compared to last year.

It was in November 2007 that the country began reporting double-digit inflation and prices rose by 10.01 percent from November 2006.

The report said average consumer prices in the first three months were estimated to be 14.47 percent up from the same period last year, lower than the average annual rise of 16.13 percent in the first two months, according to a monthly report made by the General Statistics Office.

The Vietnamese government is aiming to cap inflation at 15 percent this year after last year's 22.9 percent while also estimating GDP to grow by 6.5 percent.
The International Monetary Fund said in its Vietnam report this month that the forecast average inflation would be 8 percent, a higher rate than the World Bank's 7 percent.