The consumer price index (CPI) last month rose 2.35 percent from a year earlier, easing from a 2.43 percent increase in February and driven mainly by more expensive food and entertainment, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The latest CPI data suggest that inflationary pressure remained high, especially for frequently purchased items whose prices rose 6.12 percent, the agency’s monthly report showed.
“Inflationary pressures would remain tight in the near term and average people would feel the pinch more distinctly,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said.
Photo: CNA
Food prices, the largest CPI component, grew 4.86 percent, as egg prices soared 26.52 percent, gaining by double percentage points for 17 months in a row, Tsao said.
Increased feeding costs pushed up egg prices, which are expected to gradually stabilize with egg imports, but the market needs time to adapt to the changes, he said.
Similar reasons contributed to a 5.75 percent increase in meat prices, he said.
Cooking oil and fruit prices rose 9.56 and 11.8 percent respectively, while the cost of dining out increased 4.08 percent after falling below the 4 percent mark in the previous two months, Tsao said.
Education and entertainment, another major CPI driver, gained 2.79 percent as recreational costs rose 6.46 percent after authorities further eased COVID-19 restrictions, the report said.
Shelter costs increased 2.3 percent as landlords raised rents, and as home repair and improvement became more expensive, it said.
Transportation and telecommunication costs declined 0.78 percent after international fuel prices fell 6.74 percent, it said.
Falling energy and raw material prices would help mitigate inflationary pressures this quarter, but rapid, steep easing is unlikely, Tsao said.
Core CPI expanded 2.55 percent, faster than the headline value after stripping volatile items, it said.
The producer price index (PPI), which measures price changes from a seller’s perspective, gained 0.05 percent, after prices for exports and imports softened whether measured by the US dollar or the local currency, it said.
For the first quarter, the CPI registered a 2.62 percent increase, while the PPI rose 3.4 percent, it said.
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco), the Saudi state-owned oil giant, yesterday posted first-quarter profits of US$26 billion, down 4.6 percent from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multitrillion-dollar development plans. Aramco had revenues of US$108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw US$107.2 billion in revenues and profits of US$27.2 billion for the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest US$600 billion in the US over the course of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump, who is set to touch
SKEPTICAL: An economist said it is possible US and Chinese officials would walk away from the meeting saying talks were productive, without reducing tariffs at all US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks yesterday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post early yesterday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.” The second day of closed-door meetings between US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were due to restart yesterday morning, said a person familiar
RSS