The consumer price index (CPI) last month climbed 3.05 percent, the fastest growth in nine months, as bad weather drove up prices of fruit and vegetables, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The latest inflation data would obligate the government to increase tax breaks to help ease the financial burden on people in time for tax season next year.
“Successive typhoons have damaged crops, pushing up vegetable and fruit prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said, adding that the seasonal factor would subside from this month given the slim chance of tropical storms and typhoons in the winter.
Photo: CNA
Food costs, the biggest chunk of the CPI weighting, advanced 5.51 percent after fruit and vegetable prices picked up 14.55 percent and 12.32 percent respectively, the statistics agency’s monthly report showed.
Education and entertainment prices rose 3.08 percent as recreational facilities hiked charges by 6.01 percent to take advantage of growing leisure demand in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, it said.
Medicine and healthcare costs increased 2.6 percent as hospitals and clinics raised drug and copayment rates to reflect higher costs, it said.
The CPI reading after seasonal adjustments rose 0.33 percent, while core CPI, which excludes volatile items, went up 2.49 percent, little changed from 2.48 percent in September, the DGBAS said.
The two measures showed that inflationary pressure has stabilized, although it tends to be sticky, Tsao said.
International oil prices now pose the largest threat, but they have not grown out of control in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, he said.
The producer price index (PPI), which measures price changes from a seller’s perspective, fell 0.34 percent, mainly because CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) cut gas prices for industrial users, while prices for metal and chemicals remained weak amid soft demand, the agency said.
In the first 10 months of this year, CPI increased 2.43 percent year-on-year, while PPI shrank 0.54 percent from a year earlier, it said.
Cumulative price increases have reached 5.5 percent since November 2021, steeper than the 3 percent statutory requirement that obligates the government to raise basic living expenses and increase tax deductions on personal income.
Tax exemptions might rise to NT$97,000 from NT$92,000 on personal income tax, while standard deductions and special deductions might gain NT$7,000 and NT$1,100 to NT$131,000 and NT$218,000 respectively, accounting firms said earlier.
The Ministry of Finance is due to release its conclusions on the matter later this month.
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