April consumer prices drop 0.8 percent in Taiwan

2015-05-07

Taiwan’s Consumer Price Index decreased 0.8 percent year on year in April largely due to the fall in global oil costs, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics May 5.

“Lower prices for electricity, fruit, gas and consumer electronics also contributed to the fourth consecutive decline in a row,” said Tsai Yu-tai, deputy director of the DGBAS Department of Statistics. “Excluding the costs of energy, fruit and vegetables, core CPI was up 0.68 percent for the month.”

CPI fell 0.64 percent for the first four months, and is expected to continue trending down in the second quarter, Tsai said, adding that the specter of deflation is yet to materialize on the horizon.

Among the seven major expense items covered by the monthly survey, transportation and communications registered the biggest downturn of 5.92 percent, bringing the total drop to more than 25 percent during the past five months.

Living, clothing and entertainment inched down 1.04 percent, 0.5 percent and 0.14 percent, respectively, while medical care expenses dipped 0.04 percent.

Food costs rose 1.5 percent, spurred by higher prices for vegetables and seafood. The former is up 14.78 percent as a result of increased irrigation outlays during the drought, while the latter climbed 2.11 percent. The rise was partially offset by a drop of 11.48 percent in fruit prices. The costs of miscellaneous items gained 0.02 percent.

According to the National Development Council, the auction prices of pork dropped 8.8 percent from the month before, while poultry gained 1.2 percent. This is an encouraging sign that the local market continues to recover from the impact of the avian flu outbreak in mid-January.

The NDC said it will keep monitoring Taiwan’s price levels and supply of key agricultural products to ensure market stability.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=230066&ctNode=413)