The nation’s economy grew 3.04 percent year-on-year last quarter, exceeding a previous forecast of 2.77 percent made in February, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The DGBAS attributed the gain to strong domestic demand and consumption, which contributed 2.17 and 0.87 percentage points to last quarter’s GDP growth reading.
Excluding other variables, the strong showing in the first three months of this year could push this year’s GDP growth to 2.48 percent from a previous estimate of 2.42 percent.
Over the past quarter, domestic demand and consumption rose 2.39 percent, boosted by a 5.04 percent annual increase in average wages in the first two months.
There was a 13.16 percent rally on the local bourse and a 46.74 percent gain in market turnover compared to with the previous year.
People also increased their spending on domestic goods and dining by 4.74 and 4.17 percent respectively, with the number of tourists visiting from abroad growing 7.62 percent, while government consumption also rose 6.27 percent.
Exports, which rose 6.03 percent in the first quarter were led by higher external demand for semiconductors, machinery and electronic components, as well as plastic and rubber products, the agency said.
“Overall, Taiwan’s economy performed largely as expected in the first three months of the year, with consumer spending staying relatively solid and firm external demand continuing to lift the economy,” Sydney-based Moody’s Analytics economist Veasna Kong said in a note.
Separately, the government’s business climate monitor last month signaled “green” for the second consecutive month, indicating a stable recovery.
However, the total score for last month decreased by one to 23 compared with 24 in February due to declines in machinery and electrical equipment imports.
Despite the fall in the leading indicators, coincident indicators continued to post gains over the past month, signaling stable economic growth, National Development Council research director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) said.
Wu said that the government’s efforts to improve the nation’s investment environment had helped to boost domestic demand and consumption by attracting multinational companies to setup research and development centers in the nation, while local semiconductor companies expanded their investments in advanced fabrication technologies.
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