Premier Su Tseng-chang (
The premier made the remarks in answer to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Chin-pin (
Chen had complained to Su that utility prices have been on the rise since last year, but 80 percent of the public's monthly paychecks had not increased.
It would be unfair to the public if the government did nothing but allow utility prices to rise again within a short period, Chen said, citing a report from the Chinese-language newspaper, the China Times which said that utility prices may be raised again on Monday.
Market mechanism
In response, the premier cited gas prices as an example to explain his policy.
"We do not produce oil here, so we have to import oil from other countries. When the price of oil per barrel rises, the Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) has to adjust its prices as well. That is called market mechanism," the premier said.
But, Su also said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs would monitor the entire process to avoid unreasonable gas price hikes.
"If you let market mechanisms work, businesspeople are able to adjust prices to stay profitable. If the government intervenes in the market, it may give rise to a lot of problems which we could have avoided in the first place, such as illegal competition," Su said.
"The government will not interfere with the utility prices in the market, but neither will it allow unreasonable price increases," he said.
Gas price hike
CPC announced on Thursday that with the international price for oil per barrel reaching almost US$70, the state-run company was considering raising gas prices again, by about NT$2 per liter for all kinds of petroleum products, on Monday.
Newly appointed CPC chairman Pan Wenent (
Meanwhile, Minister of Econ-omic Planning and Development Hu Sheng-cheng (
Hu made the remarks in response to public concern over inflation following the the hikes in sugar prices by the state-run Taiwan Sugar Co, as well as CPC's planned gas price increases.
Citing data from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Hu said that the nation's inflation rate has been on the decline since the start of the year.
While the consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.35 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, it edged up a mere 0.41 percent last month over the same time last year, Hu said.
He said the government will keep a close watch over the situation but will avoid intervening in the market.
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