FX.co ★ Taiwan Inflation Climbs to 4-Month High

In August, Taiwan witnessed a modest rise in its annual inflation rate, climbing to 1.60% from July's 1.54%, marking a peak over the past four months. Despite this increase, the rate remains under the central bank's 2% target. The inflation uptick was largely driven by a surge in food prices, which escalated to 3.18% from 2.91% in July. This was mainly due to agricultural damage caused by recent typhoons and heavy rainfall, leading to higher prices for vegetables, meat, and dining out. Additionally, price increases were observed in housing (rising to 1.8% from 1.75%), miscellaneous goods and services (up to 2.59% from 2.06%), and health (increasing to 1.75% from 1.66%). However, these gains were somewhat balanced by a slowdown in price growth in education and entertainment, which fell to 1.26% from 1.45%, and a continued decline in transportation and communication prices, which dropped further to -1.34% from -0.89%. Meanwhile, on a seasonally adjusted basis, monthly consumer prices rose by 0.12% in August, following a 0.24% increase in July.