Consumer confidence remained weak this month, hitting the lowest point since May 2003 as a result of the public's growing concern about the national economy and stock investments in the near future.
This was the conclusion of the latest monthly report conducted by the National Central University's Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development.
The index this month dropped 0.06 points from last month to 73.06 points, according to the report.
The confidence index gauges people's expectations of stock performance, household finances, durable goods, job opportunities, consumer price fluctuations and the domestic economic outlook for the next six months.
Stock performance
Among the six components, performance of stocks was regarded with the most bearish perspective, with 82.4 percent of the 2,088 respondents who were interviewed between last Friday and Sunday saying that they would keep away from the Taiwan Stock Exchange for the next six months.
According to the Financial Supervisory Commission, the value of transactions on the main bourse totaled NT$4 trillion (US$127.4 million) in the first quarter of the year, plummeting 54.59 percent from NT$8.8 trillion a year ago.
The substantial decline in stock transactions had resulted mainly from the erosion of investors' confidence after a string of corporate scandals, led by Procomp Informatics Co (博達科技) last year, according to commission chairman Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝) yesterday.
Oil prices
Kong also attributed the decline to skyrocketing crude oil prices, the US' depressing stock market, the NT dollar's strengthening against its US counterpart and the impact of China's passage of its "Anti-Secession" Law.
Still, the consumer confidence report showed that 77.3 percent of respondents said that the second half of the year will be a good time to buy durable goods, such as houses, cars or large electric appliances.
Shia Ben-chang (
Economic worries
This reflects their lack of confidence in the economy, he said.
"We sent out warning messages at the beginning of the year, hoping the government could propose long-term-stimulus policies. But it has not done enough to boost the economy," Shia said.
Statistics have shown that, despite being based on subjective judgements, the consumer confidence index reflects trends in the nation's economic development over the next four to six months, he said.
Shia said that this should allow time for the government to map out remedies.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure