Vietnam inflation slows as fuel tax cuts keep lid on prices

HANOI, July 31 (Bloomberg): Vietnam’s headline inflation slowed more than expected in July, allowing room for the central bank to stay accommodative to support the economy’s recovery.

Consumer prices rose 3.14% in July from a year earlier, according to data released by the General Statistics Office in Hanoi.

That’s slower than the median estimate for a 3.3% gain in a Bloomberg survey of economists and compares to the 3.37% rate in the previous month.

The gains are well below the government-set 4% target and follow fuel tax cuts to ease price pressures.

That allows the State Bank of Vietnam room to stick with its easy monetary policy, a luxury in a world fighting inflation with rate hikes, with two Asian central banks resorting to emergency moves this month. - Bloomberg