Sat, Jul 06, 2024 page12

• CPI increases 2.42 percent annually

  RISING EXPENSES: Healthcare costs last month rose 3.78 percent from a year earlier, as hospitals and clinics hiked registration fees, the DGBAS said yesterday

  • By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter
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  The consumer price index (CPI) climbed at the fastest rate in four months to 2.42 percent last month, as a result of higher food prices along with increasing medical, rental and dining out costs, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

  The inflationary gauge again rose above the central bank’s 2 percent target and outpaced May’s 2.23 percent increase after briefly returning to the bank’s comfort zone in April. During the second quarter, CPI increased 2.2 percent, slightly lower than the 2.25 percent estimated by the DGBAS.

  Core CPI, excluding volatile items such as food and energy prices, rose 1.83 percent last month from a year earlier.

  

  A woman shops at a supermarket in Taipei’s Xinyi District on March 25.

  Photo: CNA

  “A total of 273 among 368 items monitored by the agency showed year-over-year upticks last month, with some having significant price hikes, such as lychees rising 57 percent. Breakfasts, Chinese medicinal materials and accommodation costs also showed an increase. This is why consumers have felt deeply higher living costs lately,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei.

  Rent costs rose 2.59 percent last month from a year earlier, the steepest increase in about 28 years, Tsao said.

  Accommodation costs, including rent, home repair costs and electricity charges, increased 2.27 percent from a year earlier, the DGBAS said.

  Dining out costs jumped 2.78 percent year-over-year, although they retreated slightly from the historical high of 2.81 percent in May.

  The cost of dining out is increasing more slowly, Tsao said.

  Last quarter, dining out costs rose 2.85 percent year-over-year, coming down from their peak in the second quarter of last year, when they soared 4.48 percent, Tsao said.

  Food costs surged 4.16 percent year-on-year last month, with fruit prices increasing most, by 22.6 percent, as heavy rain reduced harvests of lychees and mangoes, the agency said.

  An annual decline of 15.52 percent in egg prices last month helped slow down the increase of food prices, the agency said.

  Healthcare was another major factor on the CPI reading, rising 3.78 percent from a year earlier, as hospitals and clinics hiked registration fees, and health insurance authorities increased copayment and emergency treatment charges, it said.

  Costs for entertainment and education increased 1.67 percent last month, affected by strong demand for overseas travel, and fee increases at cram schools and other education providers, the DGBAS said.

  In the first half of the year, the CPI increased 2.27 percent from a year ago, with core CPI rising 2.02 percent. However, the prices of 17 major living items tracked by the Cabinet showed a decline of 0.14 percent from a year ago. Among measured items, egg prices dropped most, at an annual rate of 18.17 percent, due to an oversupply, the agency said.

  Milk and tissue paper prices also dropped by 1.99 percent and 2.45 percent respectively.

  The producer price index (PPI), which measures the price movements of goods from a seller’s perspective, rose 3.54 percent year-on-year last month, as raw materials and personal computers became more expensive, the agency said.

  In the first half of the year, the PPI climbed 1.37 percent from a year earlier, DGBAS data showed.
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