Business News

Taiwan consumer prices drop, foreign reserves hit record (Roundup)

May 5, 2009, 9:58 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's consumer prices fell for a third straight month in April, mainly due to decreasing oil prices, as its foreign exchange reserves hit a record 304.65 billion US dollars, the government said Tuesday. Prices dropped 0.45 per cent from April 2008 after falling 0.15 per cent in March and 1.31 per cent in February, the government statistics agency said. 'Compared with the same month last year, oil product prices in April dropped considerably, thus helping push down transport fares in Taiwan,' said Wu Chao-ming, a spokesman for the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. Wu said decreasing prices of consumer electronics products, including television sets and digital cameras, plus cuts in charges for overseas' sightseeing trips because of reduced demand were other major factors pushing down the consumer price index. The island's foreign exchange reserves saw an increase of 4.54 billion dollars from the end of March, the Central Bank said. It said the increase - the biggest in history - was mainly due to interest-rate gains and returns on investments by the bank. It did not identify what kind of investments. As of April, Taiwan was the fourth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves in the world, after China, Japan and Russia.

Business News

Taiwan consumer prices drop, foreign reserves hit record (Roundup)

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