The consumer price index (CPI) last month rose 2.35 percent from a year earlier, the same pace as in March, as higher food and entertainment costs drove up the inflation gauge, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
Inflation might fall to about 2 percent this month as prices for meat, eggs and other food items showed signs of stabilization and a high base last year would add to the trend, DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said.
“Food and entertainment continued to underpin the price uptrend, as loosened COVID-19 restrictions boosted demand,” Tsao told an online news briefing.
Photo: CNA
Most people have resumed going out and traveling overseas, leading to the CPI picking up 0.76 percent from March and registered a 0.42 percent gain after seasonal adjustment, Tsao said.
The IMF has urged Asian central banks to keep their monetary policies tight for a while longer, saying that a premature pause to interest rate increases or monetary easing might lead to recurrent inflation, which would be more difficult to tackle.
Core CPI, a more reliable long-term price tracker that excludes volatile items, increased 2.72 percent, as energy, fruit and vegetable costs were no longer the drivers of inflation, Tsao said.
Food costs, the largest item, expanded 4.19 percent on the back of more expensive eggs, meat, cooking oils and processed food items after suppliers passed higher animal feed costs to consumers, Tsao said.
People on lower incomes would feel the pinch more acutely, he said.
Education and entertainment were a major inflation catalyst with a 3.29 percent increase, as prices for recreational activities spiked 7.45 percent and expected to continue to rise toward the summer vacation season, Tsao added.
Accommodation costs rose 2.34 percent on the back of increases in home improvement and repair costs, electricity tariffs and rents, the official said.
Electricity prices picked up 2.88 percent year-on-year after the government raised rates by up to double-digit percentages in July last year and last month to keep Taiwan Power Co (台電) afloat, Tsao said.
Additionally, prices for miscellaneous items rose 2.17 percent in line with more expensive jewelry, healthcare, and hygiene and beauty products and services, the statistics agency said.
The producer price index (PPI), which measures price changes from a seller’s perspective, contracted 1.98 percent as a demand downturn weakened prices for crude oil, base metals, and chemical and medical products, the DGBAS said.
In the first four months of this year, the CPI climbed 2.54 percent, while the PPI gained 1.89 percent, it said.
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