Hanoi - Vietnam said Thursday that inflation in July has slowed to 1.1 per cent month-on-month, compared with 2.2 per cent in June and 3.9 per cent in May, according to a report released by the government's General Statistics Office. The report was hastily released one week before the end of the month and just three days after the government raised the retail price of gasoline by 31 per cent to 19,000 dong (1.13 dollars) per litre.
July's figure would raise the country's inflation in the first seven months of this year to 19.8 per cent, and to 27 per cent over the past 12 months, the report said.
Prices of medicine and healthcare services saw the highest month-on-month growth of 2 per cent, followed by prices of construction materials (1.7 per cent), household utensils (1.5 per cent) and garments and footwear (1.4 per cent), according to the report.
Figures released Wednesday by the Ministry of Planning and Investment estimated the inflation rate through the end of 2008 at 25 per cent, but it was not clear whether gasoline price hikes had been factored in.
Vietnam has been struggling to curb double-digit inflation. The government has repeatedly tightened credit rules for banks and has raised the prime interest rate to 14 per cent. In March, it froze the prices of key commodities, including gasoline.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment also announced Wednesday that the government has cut or delayed nearly 3,000 state-funded investment projects with a total investment capital of 36 trillion dong (2.14 billion dollars).
The state-owned Vietnam Maritime Corporation has cut and delayed investment projects worth 6.2 trillion dong (370 million dollars), while the shipbuilding conglomerate Vinashin has put a hold on projects worth 6 trillion dong (257 million dollars).
