The consumer price index (CPI) last month accelerated 2.84 percent year-on-year, while core CPI climbed 2.42 percent to a 13-year high, as retail prices rose ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The inflation gauge has been above 2 percent for several months and that trend is set to continue, the statistics agency said.
The latest data give hawkish board members at the central bank more leeway to push for interest rate increases, while others consider higher inflation amid a robust economy acceptable.
Photo: CNA
“Domestic retail prices, which remain under pressure, keep rising, although the wholesale price index [WPI] lost some momentum,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said.
The WPI, a measure of commercial production costs, advanced 10.83 percent, down from a revised 12.46 percent gain in December, Tsao said.
Many companies have passed the increased costs on to customers to stay profitable.
Core CPI, a more reliable long-term price tracker because it excludes volatile items, would still have risen 2 percent even after stripping out the influence of the holiday, the DGBAS said.
Transportation and communication prices posted the steepest advance of 5.19 percent, attributable to a 16.77 percent spike in international fuel prices and a 13.38 percent upswing in domestic airfares, it said.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine helped drive up oil prices, Tsao said.
The cost of food, which has the largest weighting in the CPI, rose 3.75 percent, as bad weather elevated fruit prices by 21.41 percent, while egg and fishery prices jumped 15.62 percent and 5.28 percent respectively year-on-year, he said.
In particular, the cost of eating out increased 3.87 percent, the biggest rise in seven years, he added.
Prices of miscellaneous items picked up 2.76 percent, mainly because people had to pay extra for babysitters, hairdressers and other service providers, which is normal during the Lunar New Year holiday, Tsao said.
Likewise, travel agencies and leisure facilities also raised their rates over the holiday, bolstering entertainment and recreational prices by 2.06 percent, he said, although tightened COVID-19 controls amid revived outbreaks curtailed demand somewhat.
The cost of living rose 1.73 percent, as home repair costs increased 6.29 percent and rents rose 0.97 percent, the DGBAS said.
Rent increases have drawn the attention of the central bank, as they are connected to housing affordability and higher inflation that could lead to social instability.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
RSS