Taiwan's CPI rises by 3.36 pct in July

TAIPEI, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose by 3.36 percent year on year in July, breaking the inflation warning line of 3 percent for the fifth consecutive month this year, according to data released by the island's statistics agency.

The inflation pressure on the island remains heavy, said the agency on Friday, attributing the CPI growth to the increasing prices of necessities, such as fruit, eating-out fees, meat, eggs, houseware and rent.

Food prices rose by 7.18 percent year on year, contributing a half of the CPI growth in July, with egg prices rocketing by 31.92 percent and fruit prices up 29.47 percent.

It was followed by the residence expense due to the adjusted electricity price that rose by 12.64 percent in July, according to the agency.

The agency predicted in the end of May that Taiwan's CPI would grow by 2.67 percent this year, but the actual growth for the second quarter turned out to be 3.46 percent and higher than expected, posing a high possibility that the CPI growth for the whole year would be lifted.

Affected by the inflation pressure, some think tanks in the island have lowered the expectation for Taiwan's economic growth this year. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, for example, has fine-tuned the economic growth for 2022 to 3.81 percent.