The nation’s consumer price index (CPI) maintained mild growth last month, but the recent trend of increasing prices for milk and coffee at some local stores might increase the inflationary pressure this month, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The headline inflation indicator rose 1.35 percent from a year earlier, slightly higher than the revised 1.34 percent increase recorded in August, amid rising prices for clothes and food, the DGBAS said in its monthly report. Clothing prices surged 2.62 percent from a year ago, while food prices increased 1.88 percent, with the price of eggs up the most at 21.57 percent year-on-year, the report showed. “Last month’s inflation remained stable, but the prices on milk and coffee, which has already been raised at some supermarkets and convenience stores, may enhance this month’s growth on CPI,” DGBAS section chief Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) told a press conference. However, the slowing global economy has gradually brought down prices on agricultural and industrial materials, which might offset the inflationary pressure, Wang added. The 1.35 percent increase in inflation last month translated into increased costs of NT$810 a month for households with a monthly income of NT$60,000, when compared with a year earlier, with food costs rising NT$310 and gasoline costs up NT$171, while Internet fees were down NT$94, the DGBAS said. Growth in core inflation — which excludes vegetable, fruit and energy prices — expanded to 1.17 percent last month from a year ago, the sixth consecutive month the rate has stayed above the 1 percent level, DGBAS data showed. “While the latest CPI data supports the central bank’s view that inflationary pressure has stabilized, the trend in core inflation — which is expected to grind higher — will serve as a reminder to potential risk stemming from rising housing costs,” Tony Phoo (符銘財), a Taipei-based economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said in a note yesterday. The wholesale price index (WPI) rose 5.14 percent year-on-year last month, up from 4.02 percent a month ago, data showed. Cheng Cheng-mount (鄭貞茂), chief economist at Citigroup in Taipei, said last month’s WPI growth was higher than the market’s expectations of 3.66 percent because of the New Taiwan dollar’s recent depreciation against the US dollar. Lower global commodity prices and lukewarm domestic demand should continue to keep Taiwan’s inflation in check in the coming months, but if the New Taiwan dollar keeps depreciating against the greenback, inflation concerns may reignite, Cheng said in a research note yesterday.

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