Oil at US$100 could lift CPI to 1.9%FORECAST: Crude oil prices are highly volatile and could fall to about US$70 per barrel if hostilities in the Middle East end quickly, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) could rise about 1.9 percent this year, if crude oil prices average US$100 a barrel, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday, signaling that price pressures remain broadly contained for the time being. The central bank on March 19 raised its inflation forecast to 1.8 percent, assuming oil prices average US$85 per barrel and incorporating government measures to stabilize prices. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei TimesCrude oil prices remain highly volatile and could fall to about US$70 per barrel if hostilities in the Middle East end quickly, the central bank governor said. “Interest rates mainly address demand-driven inflation, whereas higher oil prices are a supply-side shock best managed through supply-side measures,” Yang said, adding that the central bank might tighten policy if it deems it necessary to tame inflation.

Source: Taipei Times March 30, 2026 16:31 UTC