TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has warned against profiteering as prices continue to climb.

The Legislative Yuan convened for a meeting on the issue on Thursday (Oct. 21), after which Su laid out how the government will respond to rising inflation, according to a CNA article.

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) announced the annual growth rate of Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) in September was 2.63%, the largest increase in more than eight-and-a-half years. The annual growth rate of CPI for critical materials for consumers was 3.31% — also a three-year high.

Epidemics, extreme weather and transportation bottlenecks are the main culprits, according to Su, who spoke at the Executive Yuan meeting on Thursday (Oct. 21), per CNA. Su asked Vice Premier Shen Rong-jin (沈榮津) to direct government departments to disrupt individuals or companies that take advantage of the opportunity to unfairly drive up prices.

The Executive Yuan’s Price Stability Group (穩定物價小組) is monitoring fluctuations in prices and estimates overall prices in Taiwan will not grow by more than 2% this year. This is less than price hikes in Singapore, South Korea, the U.S. and other countries, per CNA.