The nation’s wholesale price index (WPI) fell nearly 11 percent last month from a year ago to 99.67 — the biggest contraction since April 1975 — mainly because international prices of agricultural and industrial raw materials remained weak, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
SUB-INDEXES
Of the WPI’s three sub-indexes, the domestic wholesale barometer fell 13 percent from a year ago, the largest decline since the survey began.
Import prices fell 13.74 percent in New Taiwan dollars and 22.33 percent in US dollars.
Export prices dipped 6.12 percent, the DGBAS report showed.
Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, contracted for the third consecutive month last month, falling 0.45 percent from a year ago to 103.75, because of higher oil prices last year.
“We believe deflationary pressure still exists,” DGBAS section chief Wu Chao-ming (吳昭明) told a media briefing yesterday.
The DGBAS will release updated forecasts concerning deflation and GDP growth on May 21, Wu said.
The steep drop in gasoline prices was offset by the rise in domestic food prices, which climbed 1.5 percent year-on-year last month.
CORE CPI
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.4 percent year-on-year last month. The increase was the smallest since October 2006.
In the first four months of the year, core CPI went up 1.02 percent.
Wu said the drop in domestic prices was mainly the result of weak demand.
“While the drop in crude oil prices is a global phenomenon, the drop in food prices is related to the weakening of consumer purchasing power in Taiwan,” Wu said.
“Basically, this was a sign of the global economic recession,” he said.
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