The consumer price index (CPI) continued to rise for a seventh month last month on reviving domestic consumption amid the economic recovery, with the headline index increasing 1.31 percent from a year ago, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
That contrasted with a revised gain of 1.19 percent in June, the statistics agency said, but it added that commodity prices were growing at a “moderate” pace and that there were no inflationary pressures as yet.
“Many promotions for daily necessities have come to an end, reflecting rising production costs as well as growing domestic consumption and purchasing power,” DGBAS section chief Wu Chao-ming (吳昭明) told a media briefing.
Prices of vegetables, seafood, clothing, fuels and overseas tours all increased last month, with clothing seeing the largest increase at 3.27 percent year-on-year because of fewer discounts and rising gold and jewelry prices, Wu said.
The core CPI, which is used to track long-term inflation because it excludes volatile vegetable, fruit, fish and energy prices, grew a 0.73 percent last month from a year earlier, posting a sixth straight month of growth year-on-year, DGBAS’ data showed.
Cheng Cheng-mount (鄭貞茂), head economist at Citigroup Taiwan Inc, attributed last month’s growth in the CPI mainly to seasonal factors, such as high temperatures that led to rising vegetable prices, adding that the increase was within market expectations.
On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.31 percent chiefly because summer heat and torrential rain increased vegetable prices and airfares during peak vacation season. The core CPI edged up 0.1 percent from a month earlier.
Between January and last month, the CPI rose 1.21 percent compared with the same period last year, with the commodity prices sub-index rising 2.67 percent and that of services edging up 0.07 percent, the agency said.
Meanwhile, the wholesale price index (WPI) edged up 5.34 percent year-on-year last month because prices of chemical materials, base metals and imported iron ore were higher than recorded last year.
The increase, however, is the lowest since the WPI rose 1.07 percent in November last year.
“This means that growth in prices of agricultural and industrial raw materials has gradually slowed,” Wu said.
Looking ahead, Cheng said the CPI could see a contraction this month because of a higher base last year, when vegetable prices surged after Typhoon Morakot.
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