Inflation in Vietnam will cool in June or July if concerted measures are taken, particularly to cut public investment, a government official said Monday.

Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, head of the government’s office, said he did not expect inflation to level out in May.

In late February, the government announced measures aiming to control inflation and bring economic stability in the country. Leading economists said the efforts will start paying off in the next few months.

Consumer prices climbed 17.51 percent in April from a year earlier, according to the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. The rate is the highest since December 2008.

From the end of 2010, the consumer price index is up 9.64, breaking the annual target of 7 percent for 2011.