HANOI, May 16 : Vietnam is unlikely to keep its Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth under 4 per cent this year, Vietnam News Agency cited the National Center of Socio-economic Information and Forecast, which is affiliated with Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment, as reported on Monday.

With economic volatility still in sight until the end of 2022, it would be very challenging to reach the goal, according to Tran Toan Thang, head of the Department of Industrial and Business Forecast under the center, via the news agency.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict shows no signs of de-escalation and Western nations are highly likely to continue imposing sanctions on Russia, the rising fuel prices will hamper the efforts to control inflation, he said.

Vietnam's CPI rose 2.1 percent year on year in the first four months of this year.

The country's CPI growth in 2021 was 1.84 percent, the lowest level since 2016, according to the General Statistics Office.

Meanwhile, Vietnam recorded 1,594 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday (May 16), down by 301 from Saturday, according to the Ministry of Health.

All the new infections were domestically transmitted in 47 provinces and cities.

The Vietnamese capital Hanoi was the pandemic hotspot with 461 new cases recorded on Sunday, followed by the northern Quang Ninh province with 88 and the central Nghe An province with 80.

The infections brought the total tally to 10,696,630 with 43,065 deaths.

Nationwide, 9,355,040 Covid-19 patients, or more than 87 percent of the infections, have recovered.

Nearly 217 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including roughly 197.1 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.

 - Xinhua