The consumer price index (CPI) in April increased slightly by 0.18% from the previous month; an increase of 2.09% compared to December 2021 and an increase of 2.64% over the same period last year. The price of housing maintenance materials increases with the price of input materials for production; educational services increased again in some localities after the period of tuition fee exemption and reduction; Prices of out-of-home meals and tourism services increased according to consumer demand were the main reasons for CPI increase in April.
On average, in the first 4 months of 2022, CPI increased by 2.1% over the same period last year, higher than the increase of 0.89% in the first 4 months of 2021, but lower than the increase of the first 4 months of 2017-2020[14]; core inflation increased by 0.97%.
- In the increase of 0.18% of CPI in April 2022 compared to the previous month, there were 8 groups of goods and services with an increase in the price index and 3 groups of goods with a decrease in the price index.
- Eight groups of goods and services with an increase in price index include:
– The group of culture, entertainment and tourism had the highest increase with 1.16% due to the price of tour packages increased by 5.22% compared to the previous month because of the increase in tourism demand.
– The education group increased by 0.96% (making the general CPI increase by 0.06 percentage points), of which educational services increased by 1.07% because some localities increased tuition fees again for the 2021-2022 school year after the deadline exemption or reduction due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic [15].
– Housing and construction materials group increased by 0.58% due to the price of housing maintenance materials increasing by 2.02%[16]; April’s rent increased by 0.47%; gas price increased by 2.63%[17]; kerosene price increased by 7.25%[18]. In the opposite direction, the price of electricity in April decreased by 0.41%[19]; the price of domestic water decreased by 2.11%.
– The group of appliances and household appliances increased by 0.32%, mainly due to the high consumption demand in the summer: The price of air conditioners increased by 0.34% compared to the previous month; the price of electric fans increased by 0.2%; the price of refrigerators increased by 0.1%… In the opposite direction, water heaters decreased by 0.1% compared to the previous month and blankets, curtains and pillows decreased by 0.15%.
– Beverage and cigarettes group increased by 0.22% due to hot weather, so demand for beverage consumption increased: The Price of mineral water increased by 0.16%; carbonated soft drinks by 0.26%; juice increased by 0.28%. Alcohol and smoking increased by 0.3% and 0.12% respectively over the previous month.
– The group of other goods and services increased by 0.18%, mainly focusing on personal goods such as electric personal care machines, which increased by 0.08%; non-electrical personal tools up 0.12%; hospitality services increased by 0.26%.
– Garment, hats and footwear group increased by 0.12%.
– Medicine and medical service group increased by 0.03% due to the change of seasons, the proliferation of pathogenic viruses, people increased their purchase of drugs to strengthen the immune system, in which the price of vitamins and minerals up 0.04%; group of analgesics, antipyretics and anti-inflammatory drugs increased by 0.36%; prices of drugs for the gastrointestinal tract increased by 0.11%.
(2) Three groups of goods and services with reduced price indexes include:
– Food and foodsuff group decreased by 0.05% (making the general CPI to decrease by 0.02 percentage points), of which: Food increased by 0.21%[20] (the overall CPI impact increased by 0.01 percentage points) ; food decreased by 0.32%[21] (the impact decreased by 0.07 percentage points); eating out of the family increased by 0.51%[22] (general CPI impact increased by 0.04 percentage points).
– Post and telecommunications group decreased by 0.12%.
– Transport group decreased by 0.59% (making the general CPI decrease by 0.06 percentage points) due to the impact of the petrol price adjustment on April 01, 2022; April 12, 2022 and April 21, 2022 causing gasoline prices to decrease by 2.5%; the price of diesel oil increased by 7.01 %. Besides, the price of public transport service increased by 3.72% due to the increase in fuel price; vehicle maintenance service prices increased by 0.42%; self-driving car and motorbike rental fees increased by 0.32%; driving license fees increased by 0.11%.
Core inflation[23] in April 2022 increased by 0.44% over the previous month, up by 1.47% over the same period last year. On average, in the first 4 months of 2022, core inflation increased by 0.97% over the same period in 2021, lower than the general average CPI (up 2.1%), this reflects mainly consumer price fluctuations due to food and food prices and gasoline and oil prices.
The domestic gold price fluctuated inversely with the world gold price. As of April 25, 2022, the average world gold price was at 1,950/ounce USD, down 0.3% compared to March 2022 due to the pressure of bond yields increasing again, reducing the attractiveness of gold. Domestically, the gold price index in April 2022 increased by 0.73% compared to the previous month; an increase of 12.28% over the same period in 2021; the average growth in the first 4 months of 2022 increased by 5.65%.
The US dollar on the world market rose in the context of investors expecting the US Federal Reserve (FED) to decide to step up interest rate hikes in the near future. As of April 25, 2022, the US dollar index on the international market reached 100.04 points, up 1.58 points from the previous month. Domestically, the average US dollar price on the free market was around 23,016 VND/USD. The US dollar price index in April 2022 increased by 0.07% over the previous month and decreased by 0.64% over the same period in 2021; average decrease of 0.66% in the first 4 months of 2022.