Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/05
By: Pan Tzi-yu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Taiwan’s consumer prices rose 0.31 percent in November from a

year earlier, the smallest increase in 13 months, government statistics showed Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fruit, vegetables and energy, rose 0.67 percent year-on-year, the smallest increase in 21 months, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

The low year-on-year CPI growth for November was not because of low consumption, but rather was due to a drop in vegetable prices, a moderate increase in fuel prices and the diminishing effects of a tobacco tax hike in June 2016, according to leading DGBAS specialist Hsu Chien-chung (徐健中).

He said stable weather conditions in recent weeks led to a decline in vegetable prices. In November, vegetable prices fell nearly 20 percent from the previous month and 22.64 percent from a year earlier, the steepest year-on-year decline in 13 months. The drop in vegetable prices contributed to a 0.46 percentage point drop of the CPI in November, Hsu said.    [FULL  STORY]