Taiwan’s consumer prices rose 1.95% in the 12 months through April, the government’s statistics bureau said Tuesday which was down from 2.14% in March and below the 2.2% forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
MIDF in its notes said Taiwan’s consumer price inflation moderated to the lowest in 3 months and lower than market expectations for the rate to stay at +2.1%yoy. Food inflation eased further, the lowest in 9 months while core inflation , excluding foods & energy, eased to 3-month low. Prices of goods rose +1.4%yoy, also the softest pace in 9 months.
Concurrently, service inflation softened, the slowest rise in 3 months. On a seasonally adjusted basis, monthly headline CPI inflation was slower at +0.1%mom (Mar-24: +0.3%mom). The monthly inflation was the slowest since Dec-23.
In view of the moderating inflationary pressure, the Central Bank of the Republic of China is likely to keep its interest rate steady in Jun-24 after a surprise hike in Mar-24. The house said it continues to foresee the ringgit to perform better against the New Taiwan dollar and other regional currencies, as the local currency gains from the more encouraging investment environment. On that note, MIDF said it keeps projection that the MIDF Trade-Weighted Ringgit Index will end higher in 2024 at 91.50 (end-2023: 85.34).
