Vietnam's CPI up 3.15 pct in 2022

Vietnam's consumer price index (CPI), which measures changes in the prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services, rose 3.15 percent in 2022, meeting the below-4-percent target set by its top legislature, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Friday.

The rise was mainly driven by surging fuel and gas prices, and rising prices of other items including rice, food and housing and materials.

Specifically, items posting the most significant rises in prices included transport (up 11.27 percent), beverages and cigarettes (up 3.15 percent), and housing and construction materials (up 3.11 percent).

Meanwhile, the CPI's growth was offset by lower prices of pork, house rent and telecommunication, among others.

In December alone, the index decreased 0.01 percent against November, contributed by decreases of two out of the 11 items in the calculation basket. Transport saw the largest decline of 2.78 percent while housing and construction materials posted the largest increase of 0.66 percent in December.

Vietnam's top legislature has set the target of controlling the CPI at around 4.5 percent in 2023.

The British multinational investment bank HSBC has recently lowered its inflation forecast for Vietnam in 2022 from 3.4 percent to 3.2 percent, but raised its inflation forecast for 2023 to 4 percent instead of the previously projected 3.7 percent.