Vietnam February CPI inflation likely to ease slightly to 0.8% y/y: Standard Chartered

Quotes from Standard Chartered:

-Vietnam will release key February economic data during the week of 23 February, including inflation, industrial production (IP), retail sales and trade data.

-We expect CPI inflation to ease slightly to 0.8% y/y from 0.94% in January. Food prices, the largest component of the CPI basket, have not shown strong signs of a rebound. IP and retail sales are likely to be distorted by the timing of Tet (the Lunar New Year), which falls in February this year and fell in January 2014; March data will therefore be a better gauge of the economic situation in Q1.

-We expect IP, export and import growth to slow on a y/y basis, partly due to last year's high base. IP growth is likely to ease to 4.0% y/y from 17.5% y/y in January. Retail sales growth has likely picked up in February on Tet holiday demand.