The nation’s two oil refiners yesterday said they would raise domestic gasoline and diesel prices for a second straight week this week, as global crude oil prices rose last week on encouraging economic news from both Europe and the US.
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said its average crude oil costs dropped by US$1.96 per barrel to US$107.97 last week from the previous week.
The New Taiwan dollar rose NT$0.15 against the US dollar last week, which also lowered CPC’s costs and partially offset the rise in crude prices. The firm decided to increase fuel prices by NT$0.1 per liter based on its pricing mechanism, a CPC statement said.
Privately owned Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday it would also raise gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.1 per liter, citing better-than-expected recent economic data in the US and fierce competition with CPC at home.
ELECTRONICS BOOST: A predicted surge in exports would likely be driven by ICT products, exports of which have soared 84.7 percent from a year earlier, DBS said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4 percent from 3 percent, citing robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related exports and accelerated shipment activity, which are expected to offset potential headwinds from US tariffs. “Our GDP growth forecast for 2025 is revised up to 4 percent from 3 percent to reflect front-loaded exports and strong AI demand,” Singapore-based DBS senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in an online briefing. Taiwan’s second-quarter performance beat expectations, with GDP growth likely surpassing 5 percent, driven by a 34.1 percent year-on-year increase in exports, Ma said, citing government
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‘REMARKABLE SHOWING’: The economy likely grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, although it would likely taper off significantly, TIER economist Gordon Sun said The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) yesterday raised Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.02 percent, citing robust export-driven expansion in the first half that is likely to give way to a notable slowdown later in the year as the front-loading of global shipments fades. The revised projection marks an upward adjustment of 0.11 percentage points from April’s estimate, driven by a surge in exports and corporate inventory buildup ahead of possible US tariff hikes, TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy likely grew more than 5 percent in the first six months