Vietnam: Rise in inflation continues in June

In June, consumer prices rose 0.30% over the previous month, which followed the 0.20% rise recorded in May. According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, June’s increase in prices mainly resulted from higher prices for medicine and healthcare as well as for housing and construction materials.

Annual inflation rose from 4.7% in May to 5.0% in June, thus reaching the highest rate in five months. Despite the increase, inflation remains below the Central Bank’s target of 7.0% for 2014. Annual average inflation inched down from 5.7% in May to 5.6% in June and now sits at the lowest level since April 2010.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect headline inflation to average 5.5% in 2014, which is down 0.6 percentage points from last month’s forecast. According to the panel, average inflation should accelerate to 6.8% in 2015.