The consumer price index (CPI) in HCMC in July dropped a slight 0.09% against the previous month, the first decrease since last November, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

The CPI increased by 8.71% compared to the same period last year and 4.78% against early this year.

Catering services increased 0.05% this month while beverage and tobacco, apparel, and footwear prices inched up 0.1% and 0.21% respectively. Meanwhile, housing, electricity, water and construction materials saw a decrease of 0.44% and post and telecom services edged back 0.15%.

Culture, entertainment and tourism services still rose by 0.14% and the education sector remained unchanged. Equipment and home appliance prices rose 0.19% while medicine and healthcare services increased 0.05%.

Local market experts said the decrease was attributed to lower prices of food and building materials due to lower demand in the rainy season. Petroleum and gas prices also came down as the Government cut fuel prices since early last month.

The food category reported consecutive decreases since March but food prices were still high compared to early this year. Foodstuff prices, meanwhile, reported steady increases this year, excluding slight decrease in April.

Food and foodstuff prices in the city have soared in the year to date given bad weather, high production costs and the imbalance between production and consumption, causing the city's CPI to rise this year, experts said.

Gold prices in July rose by 1.83% while U.S. dollar inched up 0.43% against the previous month.

(Source: Vietnamnet)