The office said CPI in March increased by 0.7 percent month-on-month, the highest monthly increase since 2012. Among the 11 groups of  key commodities and services, 10 experienced price hikes from the previous month.

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At a supermarket in Vietnam

According to GSO General Director Nguyen Thi Huong, hikes of petrol and gas prices in tandem with global fuel prices, and prices of construction materials, contributed to the increase in the overall CPI in the last quarter.

The price of rice in January-March increased by 1.1 percent year-on-year, contributing 0.03 percentage points to the CPI.

Meanwhile, food and catering, and education services respectively posted declines of 1.2 percent and 4.24 percent against the same period last year

Notably, house rent strongly fell by 15.14 percent year-on-year due to a cut in support of the people facing difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Core inflation in the quarter was up 0.81 percent compared to a year ago, the GSO said.

Source: VNA