VietNamNet Bridge - Hanoi’s March consumer price index (CPI) increased by 2.41 percent over last month and 13.56 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the Hanoi Statistics Office (HSO).

This is the sharpest augmentation of Hanoi’s CPI since February 2010 when it stood at 2.61 percent.

In March, all 11 baskets of goods saw increase in price and five of them rose by more than 1 percent.

The biggest price hikes in the month were seen in transportation (7.41 percent), followed by housing, electricity, water, fuel and building materials (3.19 percent). Recreation, tourism, telecom services, healthcare services, garments and footwear had a slight increase of 0.02-0.86 percent.

Economic experts say the rise of CPI was due to recent price hikes of electricity, oil and gas.

A high CPI puts a lot of pressure on the economy, particularly for trying to curb inflation below 7 percent, as the set goal.

Also in March, the gold price rose by 5.27 percent and the price of the US dollar rose by 3.11 percent against the previous month.

Source: VOV