PMI reads 62.7, the ninth month in expansion zone
OVERHEATING RISK: CIER’s president said that prices for oil, raw materials and mass commodities are spiking, and producers might soon pass costs on to consumers
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month was 62.7, soundly in the expansion zone for the ninth straight month, with all sectors reporting an uptick in business amid deepening concern over inflation risks, the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The economic barometer has been above 60 for five months in a row, although it has slowed from a peak in January, CIER president Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章) said, calling attention to a record 91.6 reading for raw-material prices that makes inflation a serious issue.