The nation's inflation rate has been kept at a low and stable level in the past few years thanks to the central bank's strategy, central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) said in a speech during a meeting at the Presidential Office yesterday.
"Compared with other countries, Taiwan's inflation rate is being maintained at a low and steady level, which can be justified by the rate's average figure and its standard deviation," Perng said, according to a copy of the speech posted on the Presidential Office's Web site.
Between 1998 and last year, the average inflation rate was 0.79 percent with a standard deviation of 0.95 percent, Perng said, underlining his confidence on the price front.
Perng said the biggest challenge facing the central bank in a time of fast-changing global financial markets was balancing a stable currency exchange and monetary policy independence.
The second challenge was the problem of excess savings that has developed in the nation for many years, he said.
Perng said excess savings amounted to as much as NT$5.46 trillion between 1997 and last year. The central bank used public market operations and various instruments to absorb US$5.3 trillion of these funds from the money markets, he said.
But he stressed the key to resolving the problem of excess savings is how the government boosts domestic investment, not just the central bank's monetary policy.
Perng's speech comes amid concerns that rising commodities prices worldwide will eventually force manufacturers to pass on increased costs to consumers.
The consumer price index (CPI) declined 0.34 percent last month from a year earlier due to declines in vegetable and fruit prices, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on Aug. 6.
While the CPI for the first seven months of the year increased just 0.47 percent from a year earlier, the wholesale price index -- which tracks prices of raw materials -- was up 6.65 percent, DGBAS data showed.
The Cabinet announced on Aug. 1 that it would halve import tariffs on seven agricultural products for six months beginning on Aug. 6.
The Cabinet is expected to announce a revised floating oil pricing mechanism today. The mechanism was suspended two weeks ago amid widespread complaints.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
TikTok abounds with viral videos accusing prestigious brands of secretly manufacturing luxury goods in China so they can be sold at cut prices. However, while these “revelations” are spurious, behind them lurks a well-oiled machine for selling counterfeit goods that is making the most of the confusion surrounding trade tariffs. Chinese content creators who portray themselves as workers or subcontractors in the luxury goods business claim that Beijing has lifted confidentiality clauses on local subcontractors as a way to respond to the huge hike in customs duties imposed on China by US President Donald Trump. They say this Chinese decision, of which Agence
RSS