A woman looks at lanterns at the traditional Lunar New Year "Tet" market in the old quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. - AP
HANOI, Jan. 29 (Xinhua): Vietnam's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.94 per cent year-on-year in January, the country's General Statistics Office announced on Saturday.
Compared to the previous month, the index was up 0.19 per cent, with the most significant hikes seen in such items as transportation, beverage and cigarettes, and garments, hats and shoes.
The main drivers behind the index growth were rising consumer demand in the last month of the lunar year, and higher prices of necessities and consumer services before Tet, the country's largest and longest festival. In addition, hikes of petrol prices in tandem with global fuel prices attributed to the increase, noted the office.
Vietnam is set to curb its CPI growth to around 4 percent this year, according to a plan approved by its top legislature. Last year, the index rose just 1.84 percent compared to 2020, the lowest year-on-year level since 2016, according to the office.
In another development, Vietnam attracted an estimated foreign investment of US$2.1 billion in January 2022, up 4.2 per cent year on year, the country's General Statistics Office said Saturday.
Specifically, Vietnam licensed 103 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered capital of US$388 million dollars, up 119.1 per cent in quantity but down 70.7 per cent in capital year on year.
Among countries and regions with newly licensed investment projects in Vietnam in January, Singapore was the largest source of registered capital with US$198.1 million, accounting for 51.1 per cent of the total, followed by China's Hong Kong with US$103.3 million, accounting for 26.6 per cent, said the office.
During the period, Vietnam also saw 71 operational FDI projects raise capital by US$1.27 billion in total, up 169 per cent year on year.
In January, disbursed FDI capital totaled US$1.61 billion dollars, up 6.8 per cent year on year, and 75.4 per cent were for the processing and manufacturing sector.
In 2021, Vietnam attracted a total foreign investment of US$31.15 billion, up 9.2 per cent year on year, according to the office. - Xinhua
