Nghe An: Consumer price index increases by nearly 2%.

In January – the month leading up to the Lunar New Year in 2018 – the goods market in the province was vibrant, with both the volume of goods and purchases increasing compared to the previous month.

However, the main reason for the increase in the CPI this month is the 29.3% increase in health check-up services at public medical facilities in the province, as stipulated in Circular 02/2017/TT-BYT, which pushed the price of medicines and medical services up by 21.79%.

The market offers a wide variety of goods for Tet (Lunar New Year). Photo: Viet Phuong

Eight out of eleven groups of goods and services increased compared to the previous month, but the increase was low, specifically: Food and food services increased by 0.33% (of which, cereals increased by 1.28%, food increased by 0.18%, eating out increased by 0.09%); beverages and tobacco increased by 0.21%; clothing, hats, and footwear increased by 0.36%; housing, electricity, water, fuel, and building materials increased by 0.93%; household equipment and appliances increased by 0.47%; transportation increased by 0.60%; culture, entertainment, and tourism increased by 0.06%; and other goods and services increased by 0.22%.

During the month, one group of goods remained unchanged in price (postal and telecommunications services) and one group saw a decrease in price (education, down 0.11% compared to the previous month).

Graphics: Huu Quan

Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in January 2018 were estimated at VND 5,306 billion, an increase of 9.6% compared to January 2017, of which total retail sales of goods were estimated at VND 4,344 billion, an increase of 8.97% compared to January 2017.