The government’s business climate monitor flashed “blue” for the seventh consecutive month last month, indicating that the economy has yet to come out of the woods, despite earlier projections that things will improve this year, the National Development Council said yesterday.
The council now expects the nation’s export-reliant economy to bottom out this quarter, but global uncertainty lingers.
The total score for the monitoring system stood at 14 last month, one point lower than in November, the council’s report said. Except for ample liquidity, all bellwethers registered negative cyclical movements, the report said.
“The semiconductor industry’s inventory correction has showed signs of stabilization, suggesting that electronics exports may gradually regain growth dynamism going forward,” council researcher Wu Ming-hui (吳明蕙) said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest contract chipmakers, chip designers, and chip testing and packing service providers.
The economy may pick up each quarter, although the slowdown in emerging markets, noticeably China, may drag the pace of recovery.
The leading index, which aims to foretell the economic landscape three to six months ahead, printed 98.27 last month, down 0.098 percentage point from one month earlier, the report said.
The finding is consistent with other indicators.
The concurrent economic index stood at 98.54, up 0.03 point from one month earlier.
The gauges on electricity consumption and commercial and retail sales showed positive momentum in line with seasonality trends, the report said.
The advent of the Lunar New Year holidays and the stimulus programs should lend support to consumer spending, Wu said.
The government has provided subsidies for domestic travels and purchases of energy-efficient home appliances and new-generation telecom services.
However, a separate survey showed consumer confidence falling further this month, affected by the stock market’s fall.
The consumer confidence index compiled by National Central University logged 80.89 this month, down 0.72 percentage point from November, the poll showed.
The sub-index on stock investments reported the biggest decline of 2.7 percentage points to 67.7 this month, when the TAIEX once tumbled below the 10-year average amid a global stock rout.
The public also voiced lower interest in durable goods consumption, with the index shedding 1.75 percentage points to 92.9.
Scores below the 100 mark suggest pessimism and values above the threshold indicate optimism.
Only the measure on employment opportunity gained positive momentum to 113.75, up 0.6 percentage point from one month earlier, the report said, thanks to a stable job market.
The survey polled 2,432 adults by telephone between Tuesday and Saturday last week.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS