The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院) lowered its forecast for the nation’s GDP growth yesterday to 4.27 percent from its estimate of 4.3 percent in April on concerns that tough inflation and the drop in real wages would prompt consumers to cut spending during the rest of the year.
The Taipei-based institute urged the government to base its plan for the nation’s economy on lowering carbon emissions to curb inflation stoked by soaring imported fuel and raw material costs.
Chen Miao (陳淼), a TIER researcher, told a media briefing the institute adjusted its GDP growth projection slightly downward as it expected consumers would exercise restraint in the face of rising inflation, while wages remain unchanged.
“Inflation is definitely a headache” Chen said. “But the fact that nominal wages have climbed at an imperceptible pace in recent years aggravates the problem.”
According to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, real wages declined by a record 2.01 percent in the first five months of this year — with nominal wages edging up 1.58 percent and inflation gaining 3.66 percent.
As private consumption accounts for 54 percent to 55 percent of GDP, the think tank voiced worries about the trend, which is unlikely to let up before the end of this year.
The institute put yearly inflation at 3.45 percent, saying wholesalers and retailers would refrain from passing growing costs on to consumers for fear of hurting sales.
TIER president David Hong (洪德生) said robust exports would continue to sustain the economy even though a global slowdown had weakened demand from the US.
The institute predicted that annual exports would rise 13.37 percent while imports accelerate at a quicker pace of 15.86 percent, leaving a projected trade surplus of US$25.63 billion.
“The showing is not bad for an economy that grew 5.72 percent last year, raising the bar of comparison,” Hong said.
However, the TIER report showed an increasing number of manufacturers and service providers were pessimistic about the business climate for the rest of the year.
The number of manufacturers bearish about their business prospects rose to 27.3 percent last month, up from 19.8 percent a month earlier, the report said, citing concerns about incessant increases in raw material prices.
Meanwhile, the institute took 8.41 points from its business climate indicator for the domestic service industry that stood at 114.2 points last month, down from 122.61 points.
Chen Shih-hau (陳詩豪), deputy director of energy studies at TIER, said it was time the government developed a national economic policy centered on lowering carbon emissions to ease dependence on imported oil and help fight global warming.
To that end, the government should overhaul tax and trade laws to encourage energy conservation as well as research and development of supporting technology, Chen Shih-hau said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained