Per capita GDP outdoes S Korea

Taiwan's buying power will continue to outperform that of South Korea this year, Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), chairwoman of the Cabinet's Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), told the legislature yesterday.

IMF statistics based on purchasing power parity (PPP) indicate that the nation's per capita GDP exceeded US$30,000 last year and is expected to reach US$32,490 this year, which will be US$6,650 higher than the US$25,840 forecast for South Korea, Ho said.

"This shows that [our] purchasing power is better-than-expected," she said, dismissing any bearish economic sentiment.

Taiwan's figures lagged, however, behind that of Germany, Japan and Singapore.

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said the nation's per-capita GDP had grown 5.1 percent since 2001 and is expected to reach US$16,768 this year -- NT$553,430 -- at market exchange rates.

PPP is calculated to reflect "real" exchange rates different from market exchange rates in that they are based on the prices of goods in different countries.

Central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南), Minister of Finance Ho Chih-ching (何志欽) and DGBAS Vice Minister Lu Du-chin (鹿篤瑾) said the news indicated a healthy economy, with GDP expected to grow 5.46 percent this year.

Citing DGBAS statistics, the three dismissed talk of looming inflationary pressure and said the consumer price index would be around 1.7 percent this year and 1.84 percent next year.

Du said that salaries would see an estimated 2.4 percent year-on-year growth -- higher than the 1 percent growth predicted by Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中經院) on Tuesday.

In response, pan-blue lawmakers accused officials of painting an overly optimistic picture of the nation's economic performance and called the credibility of DGBAS statistics into question.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) accused the government of "cooking the books," adding that most people had not received a raise in years.

KMT Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) predicted inflation would soar once hikes of utilities prices are activated after the presidential election in March, while KMT Legislator Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠) said the government's revised economic forecast was meant to create the illusion of "pseudo-prosperity."