October consumer prices up 0.15 percent

Taiwan's consumer prices rose last month for the fourth time in five months as high crude-oil costs pushed gasoline and diesel prices higher.

The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.15 percent from September, when it rose 0.14 percent, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said in a statement yesterday. Fuel prices increased an unadjusted 1.9 percent from September.

Rising prices may make the central bank more inclined to raise interest rates. The Central Bank of China on Sept. 30 raised its key rate for the first time in four years, citing inflation, and Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) said last month future decisions would be determined by the pace of price increases.

From a year earlier, consumer prices rose 2.4 percent last month after climbing 2.8 percent in September. Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs and are tracked by the central bank, rose 0.9 percent after climbing 1 percent in September, yesterday's report showed.

Taiwan's wholesale price index in October rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent from the previous month. From a year earlier, it increased 12 percent.

Taiwan's gross domestic product may grow as much as 6 percent this year and inflation below 4 percent is no threat to the economy, Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) said on Sept. 28.