Slight rise in July consumer prices   A customer shops at a Big C supermarket in HCM City. Việt Nam’s consumer price index (CPI) rose a modest 0.13 per cent month-on-month in July, the lowest increase since February 2016. – VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ HÀ NỘI - Việt Nam’s consumer price index (CPI) rose a modest 0.13 per cent month-on-month in July, the lowest increase since February 2016, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced. The index represented a year-on-year increase of 2.39 per cent. That was also lower than figures recorded in the past 10 years, the GSO said. For example, in July 2006, it surged 7.5 per cent and 27.04 per cent in July 2008; in July 2013 it rose 7.19 per cent and 4.94 per cent in July 2014. In the first seven months of this year, the CPI grew 1.81 per cent compared with the same period last year, it noted. Đỗ Thị  Ngọc, deputy head of the CPI department, attributed the modest rise partly to a 0.05 per-cent decrease in restaurant and catering services, which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the goods basket. The drop was due to falling prices of food and food stuff at 0.64 per cent and 0.01 per cent. Among other groups of products and services, the highest price increase of 1.19 per cent was recorded in transportation services, followed by house and building materials with 0.14 per cent, and beverages and tobacco with 0.09 per cent. Prices also rose 0.06 per cent in equipment and home appliances; 0.04 per cent in garment, hats and footwear; and 0.02 per cent in medicine and health services. Hà Nội’s CPI The CPI in the capital city continued to rise in July for the seventh consecutive month, the municipal Statistics Office reported. The biggest rise was recorded in transportation services, mainly due to the price hike in petrol and oil. It was followed by housing, electricity, water, fuel and building materials due to higher demand in summer.  Meanwhile, restaurants and catering services showed a price slight decrease compared to the previous month, it noted. Viet Nam News