By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan’s central bank is likely to raise interest rates by 0.125 percentage points on June 16 as it struggles to curb inflation without hurting an economy that is facing increasing headwinds, a Taipei-based economist said.
Taiwan’s central bank is likely to raise interest rates by 0.125 percentage points on June 16 as it struggles to curb inflation without hurting an economy that is facing increasing headwinds, a Taipei-based economist said.
Taiwan’s consumer price index, hovering above 3 percent for the past two months, is not as serious as the 8 percent seen in the US and the EU, meriting a measured and moderate approach, said Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章), president of the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院).
Several central bank board members shared the same opinion during the bank’s March meeting, but decided on an interest
Manufacturing PMI loses some steam
DEEPENED CONCERN: CIER president Chang Chuang-chang said that manufacturers fear component crunches, supply chain delays, and electricity and water shortages
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month lost momentum, while the non-manufacturing index tumbled into the contraction zone as the service sector was hit hard by COVID-19 restrictions that kept people at home, the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The index fell 2.7 points to 66, comfortably above the expansion mark, as all sectors reported improved business activity, although at a slower pace, the Taipei-based institute said.