FOOD INFLATION:The DGBAS said a rise in food costs was because of poor weather in February, and said that a core CPI of 0.79 percent indicated benign inflation levels

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 08, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 2 percent last month from a year earlier as cold weather continued to drive up food costs, with vegetable and fruit prices staying at a 21-year high, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

It is the second consecutive month the inflationary gauge has hit the 2 percent level, but the statistics agency dismissed concerns, saying the phenomenon would prove to short-lived once weather disruptions fade.

“Last month saw little correction in vegetable prices due to lingering supply disruptions, even though holiday demand subsided,” DGBAS Deputy Director Tsai Yu-tai (蔡鈺泰) told a news conference.

Vegetable prices surged 79.1 percent year-on-year last month, little changed from an 81 percent increase in February, as humid weather and inadequate sunlight thwarted supply, Tsai said.     [FULL  STORY]