According to the General Statistics Office, the nation recorded a CPI increase of 2.68 percent in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 10.27 percent.

The highest price increases were recording in commodity groups including housing and building materials (up 1.45 percent), transport and post-telecom services (up 1.35 percent) and food (up 0.67 percent), while the education sector experienced the lowest increase of 0.07 percent.

According to Deputy Head of the GSO Trade and Price Department Nguyen Duc Thang, a sharp increase in the prices of essential goods such as food, petrol, fuel and input materials has put pressure on the prices of other goods and services.

Additionally, the effectiveness of the Government’s stimulus package drove total retail sales of goods and services in June up by 2.3 percent over May, resulting in a slight increase in the CPI.