All ten groups of surveyed products saw price increases against last year’s October figures, with the food and restaurant group reporting the highest rise of 7.9 percent.

The housing and construction material group recorded a 6.9 percent increase due to increased prices of steel, cement, sanitary wares and other materials.

The growing purchase demand at the transitional time between autumn and winter was considered the main cause for the rise of 6.1 percent in the garment, hat and footwear group - the third increase level among the surveyed groups.

The CPI in urban areas increased by 0.3 percent over September and 7.3 percent over the same period last year, while respective indexes in rural areas were 0.2 percent and 6.3 percent.

The Southeastern region topped the list with the highest CPI growth rate of 0.4 percent among the listed regions, followed by the Northeastern, northern central and central coastal regions, respectively, with 0.3 percent increases. Meanwhile, the Northwestern region was the only one to have reported a decrease (minus 0.1 percent).
Among ten surveyed localities, Thua Thien-Hue province saw the highest CPI rise of 0.4 percent as compared with last month, followed by Ho Chi Minh City with 0.3 percent. In particular, the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long reported a 0.3 percent decrease.

In October, US dollar price index surged by 0.2 percent, while gold price index dropped by 3.1 percent from the previous month thanks to a low demand in the world market.

However, the price of gold in the world market is forecast to increase in the coming time due to the decrease in oil output by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which supply up to one-third of the total volume of oil to the world market.

The Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance said it would take proper measures in the remaining months of the year to keep the CPI growth below the gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8 percent set by the National Assembly.

These measures focus on ensuring the supply-demand balance, restructuring goods circulation systems and putting aside sufficient reserves of commodities, particularly essential products, so that the State could control the domestic market if need be.

The department would manage to implement the fiscal policy and utilise financial tools to stabilise prices while ensuring the country's integration commitments.