The Vietnamese General Statistics Office reported that the consumer price index (CPI) in November rose by 0.4 per cent against October, of which food and foodstuffs increased by 1.1 per cent and construction materials by 0.7 per cent.  Market experts attributed the price hike to an increasingly high demand for commodities during the last months of the year, particularly for the upcoming Traditional Lunar New Year Festival (Tet), which falls in late January. In addition, the adverse impact of the bird flu epidemic and unexpected global fluctuations in the prices of essential commodities have badly affected the domestic market.

The Trade Ministry has called on key corporations and businesses to store up a large amount of essential commodities to intervene in the domestic market immediately if global market prices fluctuate. It also proposed flexible tax policies to the Government to regulate the import and export of essential commodities such as petrol, steel, cement and fertilisers, which are likely to soar dramatically in terms of cost.