TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Even though new predictions will be issued in December, inflation looks like it is under control and will fall below 2% for next year, Central Bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said Tuesday (Nov. 29).

Forecasts made in September put inflation for 2023 at 1.88% and economic growth at 2.9%, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. Yang did not offer any new figures, but nevertheless predicted revised figures during a speech at the Academia Sinica on Tuesday.

While global uncertainty still affects the general outlook, measures taken by the government and by the Central Bank have been succeeding in restraining price increases and keeping them lower and more stable than in other countries, the top banker said.

The COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, oil and food price increases, and interest rate hikes by the United States all contributed to domestic inflation, according to Yang. Portions of the oil price rises have been absorbed by Taiwan’s state-run enterprises, helping to stabilize inflationary pressure, he added.

International capital flows in and out of Taiwan are unpredictable and difficult to understand, just like climate change, but the fluctuations have been relatively moderate, allowing for inflation to remain under control, Yang said.