Consumer prices last month rose 2.62 percent from a year earlier — the seventh time it climbed above the 2 percent alert level last year — as fuel, food and other consumption categories all became more expensive, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The statistics agency reiterated that inflation would taper off after the Lunar New Year, even though CPI readings for the entire second half of last year defied its predictions of a slowdown.
“The inflationary pressures are indeed building up, but could have plateaued last quarter and would ease off this year quarter on quarter,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said, citing international research bodies.
Photo: CNA
Government officials have painted ongoing inflation as “transient and imported” due mainly to spikes in fuel and raw material prices, although almost all sectors — from wholesalers to retailers, restaurants, garment makers and property developers — have raised prices to reflect soaring cost burdens.
The consumer price index would stay above the 2 percent mark this quarter, but would trend down thereafter, Tsao said, mainly due to base effects.
Transportation prices climbed 5.08 percent on the back of a 19.55 percent increase in international fuel prices and a 14.08 percent upswing in domestic airfares, it said.
Food costs gained 4.23 percent, as bad weather pushed up prices for fruit by 21.61 percent and eggs by 11.75 percent, it said, adding that meat prices grew 5.49 percent and vegetable prices rose 3.36 percent.
Nelson Chang (張安平), chairman of Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥) and chief executive of L’Hotel de Chine Group (雲朗觀光), yesterday said that he could not figure out why governments around the world refused to recognize inflation and reverse their loose monetary policy, the cause of stock rallies and inflation.
“I don’t like the current economic cycle where everything grows more expensive — including financial assets, real-estate properties, raw materials and labor costs, while coronavirus infections escalate,” Chang told a public function in Taipei.
In the meantime, labor and material shortages persist, because people do not want to work, he said.
Recreational and educational facilities hiked prices by 2.03 percent, while garment makers increased prices by 1.57 percent, despite lackluster business, the DGBAS said.
Living costs rose 1.55 percent due to higher prices for house repair, household items and rents, it said.
The wholesale price index (WPI), a measure of production costs, increased 12.25 percent, it said.
For the whole of last year, CPI advanced 1.96 percent, the fastest in 13 years, while WPI grew 9.42 percent, the highest in 41 years, it said, attributing the pace to unfavorable bases.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS