Vietnam's inflation rate to hit over 4% in 2014

 Vietnam's Consumer Price Index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, is expected to post at 4.09 percent year-on-year in 2014, lower than the set target of five percent this year, said Vietnam's General Statistics Office (GSO) on Wednesday.
According to a report posted on GSO's website on Wednesday, the country's December CPI is estimated to fall 0.24 percent against the previous month and hike 1.84 percent against December 2013.
Of eleven items in CPI calculation basket, price of transport is likely to post the sharpest plunge in December at 3.09 percent against November due to the consecutive decreases in local petroleum prices and in transportation fees.
Other item that witnesses its price down during December includes housing and construction material with a fall of 0.99 percent against the previous month, said GSO.
Meanwhile, prices of the remaining nine items are expected to go up in December, ranging from the lowest increase in prices of medicine, healthcare and education at 0.03 percent to the highest increase in price of post and telecommunication service at 0.8 percent against November.
Though not included in the CPI calculation, in December, price of gold is forecast to drop 0.05 percent against the previous month while that of U.S. dollar is projected to climb 0.35 percent, according to GSO.