The nation's business climate index (BCI) last month rose to 109.36 points, its highest level in 14 months, from 98.42 points in June, a private think tank reported yesterday.
"The index has risen for three consecutive months, signifying a foreseeable economic recovery," said Wu Rong-i (
Business executives are also turning optimistic about the nation's business prospects as the think tank's latest opinion poll showed that only 9.3 percent of Taiwanese companies expressed gloomy views about the nation's economic outlook for the next three months -- a fall of 2.2 percentage points from last month's 11.5 percent.
Some 50.5 percent of the polled companies -- a slight slide from June's 50.7 percent -- continued to hold bullish views for the future economic outlook, according to the survey.
Green light special
Meanwhile, the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) yesterday also said that Taiwan's economy is moving toward steady growth as economic indicators were showing a "green light" for the first time this year, as of last month.
Last month's index of leading indicators stood at 100.5 points, up 1.4 percent from June, while the index of coincident indicators stood at 102.6 points, up 0.8 percent from the previous month, the CEPD said.
The July composite indicator rose to 24 points, signaling a "green light" level for steady economic growth, compared to June's 20 points at a "yellow-blue light" level for a slowdown, the CEPD added.
The CEPD's polls also showed that 17 percent of Taiwanese manufacturers expected the nation's economy to improve over the next three months, unchanged from a month earlier, while 13 percent held negative views, up from June's 8 percent.
Start climbing
Thanks to a rebound on the global front and rising foreign demand, information technology and electronic manufacturers are expected to climb out of the recession in the third quarter while export orders are expected to grow 10 percent, according to TIER's report.
The consumer price index, nevertheless, fell to 98.8 points last month, 0.42 percentage points down from June and 0.98 percentage points down on the year, the TIER said.
The decline is a result of the clothing discounts, price cuts on personal computers and a sufficient supply of fruit and vegetables, it added.
As the renminbi is coming under great pressure to rise, Wu yesterday predicted that East Asian economies may greatly benefit from the possible appreciation of the Chinese currency by strengthening their export competitiveness.
But China-based Taiwanese businesses, which are mostly export-oriented, may be placed at a disadvantage by the renminbi's appreciation if the US greenback continues to weaken, the council said.
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