The central bank is to focus on inflation in an upcoming quarterly policy meeting, as the public has been affected by rising prices, bank Deputy Governor Yen Tzung-ta (嚴宗大) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei yesterday.
Yen said the bank considers three factors — economic growth, financial stabilization and inflation — when it adjusts its monetary policy.
Inflation has weighed more in the central bank’s consideration, as the consumer price index (CPI) has risen by more than 2 percent — an alert level set by the central bank — for 19 months in a row, Yen said.
Photo: CNA
Such a long period of high growth in the CPI has boosted public expectation that it is likely to continue to rise, Yen said.
Taiwan’s CPI rose by 2.74 percent over the first two months of this year compared with the same period last year, and by 2.43 percent last month alone, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
Inflation could rise further, as the government decided last week to raise electricity rates by an average of 11 percent starting on Saturday next week.
The power tariff hike is expected to result in an increase of 0.204 percentage points to the CPI, the DGBAS said.
The central bank has scheduled its next quarterly policy meeting for Thursday.
Market analysts have said the central bank might leave key interest rates unchanged to boost the economy at a time when Taiwan’s exports have been affected by weakening global demand.
Taiwan’s outbound shipments last month fell 17.1 percent year-on-year to US$31.05 billion, marking the sixth consecutive month of annual decline.
The central bank since March last year has raised rates by 62.5 basis points in an effort to combat inflation.
In the last policy meeting held in December last year, the central bank estimated the nation’s GDP would grow 2.53 percent this year by taking into account Taiwan’s weaker export performance.
Yen said the central bank would announce an update of its forecast after Thursday’s meeting.
Responding to the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the US, Yen said the US Federal Reserve might slow its pace of hikes in the current rate hike cycle, which is likely to stabilize global financial markets.
The Fed is to begin a two-day policy meeting starting today.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in