The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院) said yesterday that its business climate survey for last month revealed increasing neutral sentiment among manufacturers and service providers. Just over 52 percent of respondents expressed a neutral view on the nation's economic performance in the next six months, up from 36.1 percent in January.
Pessimists also greatly declined from 25.1 percent in January to 14.2 percent last month.
Some optimists, however, have become less enthusiastic with 33.6 percent of respondents "firmly optimistic" about the economy in the next six months, down from 38.8 percent in January.
"Private consumption, foreign trade and private investments are expected to see stable growth in coming months," institute president David Hong (
Despite the liquidity crisis triggered by the US subprime mortgage woes, world trade has seen little impact as China and other Asian countries have made up demand, which may support the idea among local businesses that Taiwan may do well in the second half of this year, Hong said.
"We are fairly positive that the nation's economy is likely to see a sustained boom in the near future," he said.
He urged politicians to shift their focus from elections back to economic affairs.
TIER's business climate index for the manufacturing sector declined 2.49 points last month from January to 102.56 while the service sector index rose 1.89 points from January to 116 points last month.
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