The consumer price index (CPI) last month advanced 2.52 percent from a year earlier, as summer vacations boosted entertainment costs, while bad weather pushed up food prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The inflationary measure rose above the central bank’s 2 percent target after two months of easing, raising the shadow of monetary tightening ahead of the body’s policy meeting on Sept. 21.
DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said that the CPI’s resurgence was due to sustained strong demand for entertainment and leisure, while two typhoons disrupted the vegetable market, raising prices.
Photo: CNA
“Stripping away the weather factor, the CPI would have risen just 1.88 percent as it had in July,” Tsao said, calling the inflationary pressures weather-driven and transient.
CPI readings could hover at similar levels this month, as poor weather lingers, but a high comparison base last year would help, he said.
The central bank in June kept interest rates unchanged, but indicated that it would tighten it again if necessary. Most researchers have said that interest rates would stay put for the rest of this year given Taiwan’s moderate inflation and economic slowdown.
The core CPI — a more reliable long-term price tracker because it excludes volatile energy, fruit and vegetable costs — grew 2.56 percent, the slowest in five months and might mitigate as summer vacations come to an end, Tsao said.
The inflationary measure after seasonal adjustments rose 0.18 percent, affirming stable consumer prices, the agency said.
Entertainment and education prices were the main inflation drivers, with a 3.62 percent gain from a year earlier, its latest report found, adding that recreational charges increased 9.11 percent.
Food costs, the largest CPI component, rose 3.46 percent year-on-year after Typhoon Doksuri and Tropical Storm Khanun damaged crops in late July and early last month, Tsao said.
Prices for miscellaneous items rose 2.53 percent, as domestic helpers, jewelry and personal accessories, as well as cosmetic and beauty products grew more expensive, the report showed.
Health and medicine prices increased 2.34 percent, while shelter costs rose 1.77 percent, it said.
Transportation and communication costs rose 1.68 percent, as international oil prices increased 4.32 percent, but local public transportation passes helped lower prices, Tsao said.
The producer price index (PPI), which measures price changes from a seller’s perspective, declined 0.06 percent due to price changes among energy, mineral, metal and chemical products, the DGBAS said.
In the first eight months, the CPI expanded 2.29 percent, while the PPI contracted 0.68 percent, the agency said.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS