The rise in the prices of health and education services and pork contributed to the CPI hike in August.
The spread of the African swine fever has reduced the pork supply, resulting in higher pork prices. Approximately 4.4 million pigs were culled as of August 20 because of the disease.
The CPI increased by 2.57% in the first eight months of this year, the lowest rise reported in the past three years, according to the GSO.
In August, eight out of eleven groups of goods and services posted price increases, with the highest rise seen in medicine and health services at 2.81%. The price of education rose 0.57% due to tuition hikes in some localities in the 2019-2020 new school year.
The prices of houses and construction materials went up by 0.33% in August due to the rise of rental costs, electricity, and water.
Meanwhile, three groups of goods and services saw price decreases in August, namely transportation (down 0.46%), culture, entertainment and tourism (down 0.06%), and post and telecommunications (down 0.05%).
