Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) on Saturday said that the nation is expected to report a year-on-year fall in exports for last month, as the prolonged Mid-Autumn Festival holiday and an interruption by Typhoon Dujuan worsened the nation’s export performance.
Chang said that following a sluggish August, Taiwan’s exports continued to be affected by weakening global demand, while a fall in the first half of last month was narrowed to a single digit pace compared with August’s 14.8 percent year-on-year decline.
EXPORTS
Exports in the second half seemed to be impacted by a reduced number of working days resulting from the long holiday of Sept. 26 to Monday, and the office closures due to the typhoon, on Tuesday, Chang said, adding that he thinks the Ministry of Finance will report a year-on-year fall in exports for last month.
The ministry is scheduled to release last month’s export data on Wednesday. If the ministry reports a fall in exports as expected, last month would be the eighth consecutive month of a year-on-year decline in exports.
In August, the nation felt the pinch from a slowdown in the global economy, as well as a plunge in international crude oil prices, resulting in disappointing trade data.
The nation’s exports for August totaled US$23.93 billion, down 14.8 percent from a year earlier, but up 1.6 percent from a month earlier.
In the first eight months of this year, Taiwan’s exports fell 8.8 percent from a year earlier to US$189.89 billion.
WEAKNESS
“There is no sign that Taiwan’s exports will climb out of the current doldrums any time soon as global demand remains weak,” Chang said, adding that it is likely Taiwan report a year-on-year fall in exports for this year.
Chang said that since exports account for about 60 percent of Taiwan’s GDP, a weak global market has dealt a serious blow to the nation’s economic growth.
In mid-August, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) cut its forecast for the nation’s yearly GDP growth to 1.56 percent from an earlier estimate of 3.28 percent.
With the export performance deteriorating, DGBAS Director-Deneral Shih Su-mei (石素梅) on Thursday said that it would be hard for Taiwan to maintain its GDP growth at a pace of 1 percent this year.
A fall in exports has boosted the number of workers taking unpaid leave, as most of the affected employers were exporters. As of the end of last month, the number of workers on unpaid leave rose 84 percent from a month earlier to 1,233.
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