Nearly 50 percent of local manufacturers are positive about the nation's economic outlook for the next three to six months, a think tank survey showed.
The manufacturers' optimism was backed by the coming of high-season demand and strong demand from China and other Asian countries, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER,
Of manufacturers polled last month, 49.2 percent said they were optimistic about the economy for the next two quarters, up from 44.3 percent in the previous survey, TIER said.
The amount of bearish sentiment, however, also increased to 14.2 percent from 9.1 percent.
The more positive atmosphere pushed the business climate index for manufacturing to 116.71 points, up by 0.89 from the revised figure last month, TIER said.
The growth momentum of exports since the end of last year continued to support the nation's trade, as exports increased by 5.5 percent to US$19.83 billion last month, traditionally a slow time. Trade surplus for the first four months reached US$7.75 billion, up by 33.1 percent from a year ago, government statistics showed.
TIER also released the business climate index of the service industry last month, which climbed 1.98 to 112.17 points from March, after the recovery of consumption as the credit abuse storm subsided and the employment market improved.
Business of wholesalers, retailers and restaurants grew by 3.63 percent in
February from the same time last year, TIER said. The consumer price index
for the first four months of the year rose by 0.9 percent from a year ago,
which is still under control and will not dampen consumption, it said.
Helped by a robust travel sector, the service sector is also expected to
expand this year, TIER said.
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