Purchasing power drops back   A customer chooses seafood product at Satra supermarket in HCM City. Consumer spending reached VND939.6 trillion (US$44 billion) in the first four months of the year, posting a 10.5 per cent year-on-year increase. - VNS/VNA Photo Thanh Vu HA NOI (VNS) - Consumer spending touched VND939.6 trillion (US$44 billion ) in the first four months of the year, posting a 10.5 per cent year-on-year increase, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced yesterday. In April, the consumer spending rose a low 2.4 per cent over the previous month and 11.2 per cent year over year. The increase, excluding the price factor, was 5.5 per cent year over year. However, the real purchasing power in the period was similar to the corresponding period last year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the January-April period was 0.88 per cent. This has been also the lowest consumer spending level since the second quarter of 2011. GSO economist Vu Manh Ha said the 5.5 per cent rise was calculated by taking into account the expected high consumer spending during the upcoming holidays. The service tourism sector posted a 25.6 per cent increase, while the other sectors rose 24.4 per cent. Ha said the purchasing power has been on the decline in the four-month period. The consumer spending rate in the first months of the year was 7.2 per cent, falling to 6.2 per cent in the first two months and 6 per cent in the first three months. The total spending of the private sector, which accounted for 86 per cent of the total, rose 10 per cent in the period, while it was 14 per cent in the first quarter of the year. He added that this was because most of supermarkets and shops in the cities reported a low turnover. In addition, the inventory index in industrial production was high at 14 per cent during the four months, higher than 13.4 per cent of the previous month. - VNS