DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan to 2.8 percent this year, from a previous forecast of 2.5 percent, as the nation’s export-oriented economy benefits from a better-than-expected global cyclical recovery.
The nation’s economy grew 2.84 percent last year, the strongest in more than three years and beating the Singaporean lender’s forecast of 2.4 percent, thanks to high exposure to external trade and its deep participation in the global technology supply chains, DBS economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in a report released on Tuesday.
Growth momentum would be strong this quarter in light of healthy economic indicators, Ma said.
Although the sales figures for Apple Inc’s iPhone X disappointed, demand for older iPhone models — such as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 6s — appeared to be stronger than expected, thanks to price cuts, while demand for semiconductors and other electronics components has increasingly gained diversity due mainly to the fast-growing popularity of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and automotive businesses, Ma said.
On the domestic front, the outlook should also turn slightly better this year, judging from a steady improvement in the labor market, wage hikes, the bottoming-out of the property sector and an increase in infrastructure spending by the government, she said.
“Given that the cyclical tailwinds remain strong in the short term, we revise our 2018 GDP growth forecast to 2.8 percent and keep the 2019 forecast unchanged at 2.4 percent,” Ma said.
The bank’s forecast is higher than the 2.42 percent predicted by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Tuesday.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last