Hanoi sees prices up 1 percent in February

Hanoi (VNA) - Hanoi 's consumer price index (CPI) increased approximately 1
percent against January, the city's Statistics Office reported on Feb. 19.

However, the index has risen by an aggregated 14.85 percent from one year ago.

Of the commodities, food experienced the highest increase of 1.58 percent against
last month, and 17.52 percent over the same period last year.

According to economists, the prices of goods and services quickly returned to normal
levels after the Tet (lunar New Year) holidays as many enterprises signed production
sales contracts and foreign-invested enterprises reported high growth rate.

It is predicted that the total goods and service sales in the first two months of
2009 will be up 20.0 percent, of which retail sales will post a 18.5 increase.
However, if the price factor is excluded, the figure shows almost no change from
the same period last year.

This month saw a surge of 4.35 percent in gold price, while the USD/VND exchange
rate increased 1.09 percent.-Enditem