Typhoons push Taiwan inflation to 4-year high

TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan said on Wednesday that inflation hit a four-year-high of 3.42 per cent in August on the back of soaring food prices after two destructive typhoons.

The year-on-year hike in the consumer price index was the biggest since a 4.78 per cent spike in August 2008, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said, adding prices rose 0.97 per cent month-on-month.

In August, vegetable prices soared 57.93 per cent year-on-year after typhoons Tembin and Saola caused tens of millions of United States (US) dollars in damage to agriculture, it said.

Fruit prices rose 20.14 per cent due to lower production and fuel was 11.09 per cent higher as prices rose globally.