Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in October went up by 1.05 percent compared to September and 9.66 percent compared to the same period last year, said the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) on October 23.

 The October CPI rose in 10 out of 11 groups of commodities with the biggest increase seen in educational services (3.9 percent), followed by food and restaurant services (1.32 percent), and housing and construction materials (1.04 percent).

 Drinks and tobacco, commodities and other services, and household utensils and appliances saw a slight rise of under 1 percent while the price of post and telecommunications fells by 0.07 percent.

 Nguyen Duc Thang, Director of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department, attributed the rise to the increase of tuition fees in 20 provinces and cities, the surge in the global price of rice export, and the negative impact of recent floods in Vietnam’s central region.

 Many experts said that interest rates, exchange rates between the US dollars and the Vietnamese dong, and the surging demands in Hanoi during the city’s millennial celebrations were other reasons for the rise.

 In October, prices of gold and US dollars on the black market also experienced sharp increases. Gold went up by 7.87 percent while the US dollar surged by 0.6 percent compared to the month before.

 It is estimated that the November CPI will continue to rise due to the shortage of food supplies caused by natural disasters, making the 2010 index exceed 8 percent.

 Vietnamnet/ Source: VOV