The economy likely grew more than 3 percent in the first quarter of this year, with the upward trend expected to continue in the next two quarters, a local academic said yesterday.
Although first-quarter exports were not as good as expected, consumption was strong enough to support the government’s projection of 3.26 percent GDP growth, said Shia Ben-chang (謝邦昌), a professor in the Statistics and Information Science Department at Fu Jen Catholic University.
Exports in the first three months of the year totaled US$72.64 billion, up 2.4 percent from the same period last year, but failed to meet the government’s forecast of 4.71 percent growth, official data showed.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) is scheduled to release its first-quarter GDP figure today.
In February, the DGBAS forecast that the economy would grow 3.26 percent in the first quarter and 3.59 percent for the full year.
However, speculation is high that the government might not be able to achieve its growth target for this quarter, following the release of official data last week indicating weaker-than-expected growth in export orders, industrial production and domestic commercial sales.
The latest manufacturing activity data provided by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) yesterday offered more evidence of slowing growth in the industrial sector.
Manufacturing sentiment remained sluggish last month, with the business climate flashing “blue” — implying a decline — for the second consecutive month, the institute said in a report.
The manufacturing sector’s cyclical movement stood at 10.02 points last month, up 0.13 points from the revised 9.89 points seen in February, the Taipei-based think tank said.
“Exports returned to growth last month from a year earlier, but export orders, estimated production and sales in the manufacturing sector maintained their annual pace of decline,” the report said.
However, the sector’s decline eased last month from February, leading to a rise in cyclical movements, the report said.
The institute said that manufacturing may start to recover in the second quarter, following the end of the seasonally weak first quarter.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last