TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s electricity prices will increase by 11% on average starting Monday (April 1).

A joint meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Committees on Economics and Transportation was held on Monday to discuss the construction of the round-island, high-speed railway, per CNA. Legislators also discussed their concerns about the electricity hike.

Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) said that although officials have emphasized that raising electricity prices should not be an excuse for raising commodity prices, she remains doubtful. “After all, businesses may still raise prices considering cost considerations,” she said.

National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) responded that the cost structure of electricity varies for each industry, depending on the proportion of electricity costs. “If the proportion of electricity costs is low, manufacturers may not need to adjust prices significantly,” the minister said.

Kung also said that electricity prices will have some impact on commodity prices, but the government has other measures to alleviate pressure. “For example, in terms of stabilizing commodity prices, the 10th batch of measures to reduce the tax burden on key raw materials was originally planned to end in March, but has been extended to the end of June,” he said.

Regarding Lu’s request for the Executive Yuan’s “Price Stabilization Section” to closely monitor the impact, Kung said that the NDC is the administrative body overseeing prices and is consistently monitoring the price situation.