The nation's consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.08 percent year-on-year last month on rising food, clothing and fuel prices, the government's statistics bureau said yesterday.
The inflation benchmark accelerated to a two-year high last month, adding pressure for another interest-rate increase.
Last month's figure was up a seasonally adjusted 0.78 percent month-on-month, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
Growth in last month's CPI compares with August's revised 1.6 percent year-on-year increase and seasonally adjusted 0.31 percent month-on-month rise.
high
"The inflation figure is quite high, surely putting pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates further," said Tony Phoo (符銘財), an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Taipei.
"We expect the central bank to raise rates by another 12.5 basis points in December," he said.
On Sept. 20, the central bank raised its benchmark rates for a 13th consecutive quarter to 3.25 percent.
Food prices, which account for a quarter of the consumer price index, climbed 7.72 percent. Transportation costs increased 0.71 percent and housing costs, including gas and rent, rose 1 percent. The price of clothes jumped 3.5 percent.
raw materials
"Retailers raised food prices because they had to pay higher prices for raw materials and energy," Rita Hsueh (
"Pastries, eggs, milk, puddings, boxed lunches and almost every daily consumer good have become more expensive lately," she said.
The core price index, which excludes prices of fresh vegetables and fruits, fishery products and energy, was up 1.94 percent last month from a year earlier and up 0.3 percent from August.
The wholesale price index (WPI) last month rose 4.63 percent year-on-year, which was up a seasonally adjusted 0.48 percent month-on-month, the DGBAS said.
In the nine months to September, the CPI rose 0.9 percent, the core price index gained 1 percent and the WPI was up 6.08 percent from a year earlier.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
RSS