Gasoline and diesel prices would be capped from Monday next week to Feb. 23 to help stabilize prices around the Lunar New Year holiday, while natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas prices would be kept unchanged until the end of this month, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
The measures were decided at a meeting of the Price Stabilization Task Force held ahead of the Lunar New Year.
The Executive Yuan said in a statement that it instructed the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the Fair Trade Commission to closely monitor supply, demand and price trends for agricultural products, holiday goods, services and other key consumer necessities.
Photo: CNA
The MOA has increased supplies of major agricultural products based on past holiday demand and recent market conditions, raising supplies of pork and poultry by 7 to 24 percent, fruit and vegetables by 24 to 31 percent, aquatic products by 31 percent and flowers by 140 percent, the Executive Yuan said.
The MOA was also asked to enhance monitoring of market volumes and prices and maintain close coordination with production and marketing groups to adjust supplies in a timely manner during the major holiday season, it said.
The Executive Yuan said that it directed the MOEA to require state-owned enterprises to cooperate with price stabilization measures.
That includes ensuring fuel prices at CPC Corp, Taiwan stations fall but not rise during the holiday period and maintaining prices for car wash services at CPC gas stations, it said.
Retail prices for Taiwan Sugar Corp’s small-pack household sugar and cooking oil would remain unchanged, and discounted essential goods would be offered at the state-owned sugar company’s supermarket outlets nationwide through the end of this month, the Executive Yuan said.
The MOEA found prices for popular Lunar New Year dishes to be stable at chain retailers and traditional markets, it said.
It has instructed the Fair Trade Commission to closely monitor market conditions for key holiday goods and essential services, including major retail channels, shopping districts, beauty salons and auto detailing services, and to promptly launch investigations if irregularities are detected, the Executive Yuan said.
The MOEA has maintained close communication with retailers and encouraged the creation of discount sections, it added.
Major commercial supermarket and hypermarket chains including PX Mart, Carrefour, A-Mart, Simple Mart and Funcom Supermarket have already set up such areas or marked discounted items, it said.
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