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HANOI, VIETNAM - VIETNAMESE consumer prices rose 27 per cent in July against the same month last year, the government said Thursday, while the trade deficit so far this year had widened to US$15 billion (S$20 billion).
For the first seven months of the year, the consumer prices index has risen by 21.28 per cent, the state-run General Statistics Office (GSO) said in a preliminary report.
In July alone, food and beverage costs rose by 44.7 per cent year-on-year, while the price of the staple food rice and other grains was up 72.7 per cent.
Prices for housing and construction materials were up by 24.9 per cent, clothing and footwear was up 10.9 per cent and pharmaceuticals and health care costs rose by 9.5 per cent for the month.
The GSO also estimated Vietnam's trade deficit for the January-July period at US$15 billion, with imports totalling US$51.9 billion, up 56.8 per cent, and exports up 37.7 per cent to US$36.9 billion.
The trade deficit for July alone stood at US$700 million.
With large oil reserves but no operating refinery, the country used US$7.8 billion to buy petroleum products, a rise of 90.7 per cent amid record high global energy prices.
Earlier this week, authorities decided to hike retail petrol prices by more than 30 per cent to pass on the high global oil costs, a move considered likely to further accelerate inflation.
The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday warned Vietnam to take decisive measures to avoid the kind of economic meltdown suffered by Thailand in 1997 which triggered the Asian financial crisis. -- AFP
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