Public confidence in the nation’s economic prospects this month declined at a much milder pace compared with last month, according to a survey released by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) yesterday.
About 26 percent of the respondents said they expect Taiwan's economy to improve over the next six months, while 36.5 percent anticipated that the economy will decline over that period, the survey showed.
The figures translate into an economic optimism index of minus 10.5 this month, down from minus 7.6 last month. Last month's figure fell from 14.4 seen in May.
“In contrast to the precipitous drop in June results, the slight decline in this month’s survey results shows that public confidence in the nation’s economic performance is stabilizing,” Cathay Financial economic research department assistant manager Achilles Chen (陳欽奇) said by telephone.
While the recent market volatility caused by the Greek debt crisis had limited impact on Taiwan’s economy, public sentiment was affected by a 13.9 percent annual slide in last month’s exports and major institutions’ downward revisions of forecasts for global economic growth, leading to uncertainty in the job market, the survey showed.
However, housing transactions are expected to rise in the short term, Cathay Financial said, as the survey's findings indicated a rise in the public’s willingness to sell or buy homes in the wake of the government’s recent income tax reforms.
Meanwhile, the survey showed a slight decline in the public’s appetite for investment risk, with 24.4 percent of respondents planning to reduce their equity holdings, and 18.5 percent were willing to increase their stakes.
As for the stock market, 39.7 percent of respondents expect the TAIEX to decline over the next six months, 22.9 percent forecast a rally, 22.4 percent expect no major changes and 15 percent had no opinion.
The local bourse closed nearly flat yesterday from Thursday on thin trading, with the weighted index edging up 0.04 percent to 9,045.98, after declining 0.13 percent in the previous session.
Cathay Financial's monthly survey, which collected 19,331 valid responses from its customers, was conducted between July 1 and July 10 before the Greek parliament passed a bailout agreement on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by CNA
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