The consumer price index (CPI) picked up 1.7 percent last month from a year earlier as vegetable and fruit prices soared after typhoons in September disrupted supply, while the effect of cheaper crude oil tapered off, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The sharp rise in vegetable and fruit prices could ease in the coming months as some crops resume normal supply, DGBAS Deputy Director Tsai Yu-tai (蔡鈺泰) said.
“Two typhoons and persistent rainfall were to blame for the price increases,” Tsai told a media briefing.
The inflationary gauge rose to its highest level in six months, faster than forecasts by several economists, who predicted a 0.5 percent rise.
Food costs, which make up 25 percent of the overall reading, advanced 5.24 percent, as vegetable prices surged 24.2 percent and the cost of fruit gained 7.83 percent, the report said.
Prices for fish products advanced 6.85 percent, meat gained 3.28 percent and the cost of eating out rose 1.41 percent, the report said.
The CPI registered a 0.5 percent increase after seasonal adjustments last month, suggesting stable consumer prices, it said.
Core CPI, a better indicator of long-term inflationary trends because it excludes volatile items, registered a 0.96 percent uptick last month, the highest in 20 months, though that is still benign, Tsai said.
A core CPI of 2 percent would alarm the central bank and lead it to tighten its stance on monetary policy.
Transportation and communications costs increased 0.32 percent, up for the second consecutive month, after energy costs rose 1.85 percent, ending 26 months of decline, Tsai said.
For the first 10 months of the year, the CPI rose 1.3 percent year-on-year, while food costs advanced 5.18 percent, the highest increase in eight years, Tsai said.
The wholesale price index (WPI) — a measure of production costs — fell 1.88 percent last month from a year earlier, easing from a revised 3.79 percent decline in September, the slowest retreat in two years, the report said.
Excluding foreign-exchange fluctuations, export prices weakened 0.21 percent from a year earlier, it said.
For the first 10 months of the year, the WPI fell 3.71 percent from the previous year, the report said.
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