Taiwan's CPI Growth Marks 7-Month Low of 0.72% in September

The annual growth of Taiwan's consumer price index (CPI) declined sharply to 0.72% in September, a seven-month low, and growth for the whole year is expected to be lower than the previously predicted 1.64%, according to the Cabinet-level Directorate General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics (DGBAS).

Y. T. Tsai, director of the DGBAS Department of Statistics, indicates that the September shrinkage in CPI growth was due mainly to a 20% plummet in the price of vegetables compared with a year earlier, along with a reduction of 6.19% in the price of oil, the largest drop in five years. The price declines for these two commodities helped press CPI growth down by 0.96 percentage points, despite 6.11% increase in the price of 17 food products.

In the same month the annual growth of the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, posted a higher rate of 1.55%.

Also in September the annual growth in the cost of dining out experienced its third consecutive monthly growth of over 4%, reaching 4.43%.

At the same time the wholesales price index (WPI) declined by 0.67% YoY, its largest drop since December 2013. (JL)