Government officials have been saying that the nation’s consumer prices are stable and they have not found any unusual price fluctuations during regular price checks by a special task force, shrugging off calls for a solution to the spike in living costs.
The government looks at data released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) as its main reference, and ignores whether those figures accurately reflect the general movement of consumer prices and whether people are bearing the burden of higher living costs because of food price increases.
The latest consumer price data released by the DGBAS showed that inflation edged up by just 0.39 percent annually in the first two months of this year. Excluding food prices, inflation dropped 0.09 percent annually.
However, if those officials took a closer look at the details of those price changes, they would find that recent price rises have driven up the cost of living for the public, whose inflation-adjusted salaries have been dropping to what they were more than a decade ago.
According to data released by the DGBAS, the prices of 17 essential household items hit their highest level in two years after soaring 2.84 percent year-on-year last month.
Among those items, the price of chicken climbed the fastest, by 14.22 percent annually.
Skyrocketing pork prices are another example, showing that officials do not act swiftly enough to find and fix pricing issues.
These examples show that the price stability task force organized by the Cabinet does not function as well as it should.
Domestic wholesale prices of pork surged early this month to average NT$82 per kilogram, up 28 percent annually, after a deadly porcine diarrhea epidemic greatly reduced supply.
The epidemic has raged for almost six months and has killed 220,000 piglets, according to the Council of Agriculture.
That has driven up retail prices of pork to their highest level in 50 years, causing a rise in retail prices of staple dishes such as braised pork rice.
The DGBAS said the price spike could push overall consumer prices upward in the current quarter.
Most government officials do not consider this a problem that needs immediate attention.
Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) said on Friday that “overall consumer prices have risen very slowly at about 0.79 percent. The increase remains low, indicating prices of very few life necessities are on the rise.”
After a week of jitters in the domestic pork market, the Council of Agriculture on Monday launched an investigation into illegal hoarding and found that five of the nation’s 10 major pork suppliers were suspected of illegal hoarding.
One of the pork suppliers allegedly stockpiled 1,500 tonnes of frozen pork, the Council of Agriculture said.
On Thursday, the Cabinet held a meeting with officials from the Council of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs to discuss pork prices.
The government is considering halving import tariffs on pork to 6.25 percent from 12.5 percent, or to import pork from overseas by striking special deals, if local prices remain high.
Another temporary solution would be requesting state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar) to increase its supply of frozen pork.
Hopefully, the government’s contingency measures can help ease the recent spike in pork prices.
If the government has closely monitored the market conditions and had done price checks prudently, it would have come up with proper policies to cope with any price changes and the public would not have had to suffer the sudden rise in living costs.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.