The nation’s GDP expanded 2.28 percent annually during the July-to-September period, falling short of the official target of 2.36 percent, on weaker-than-expected private consumption as the local and global economic scene grew increasingly turbulent, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on Wednesday.
The statistics agency might have to trim its full-year growth forecast of 2.69 percent, which it made in August, after all data have come in and it gives an economic update on Nov. 30.
Exports, the main driver of the nation’s economy, were robust last quarter, but imports advanced at a faster pace, so external demand last quarter dragged GDP by 1.88 percentage points, the DGBAS report showed.
The phenomenon is not all negative, because capital equipment purchases accounted for the surge in imports by local firms that are expanding or upgrading facilities, a DGBAS official said.
Semiconductor firms in particular increased capital equipment purchases by 16.91 percent last quarter from a year earlier, reversing a spending decline in the five previous quarters, the report found.
Developers and builders also spent more on construction projects, helping lift capital formation by 17.46 percent in the third quarter, higher than the DGBAS’ projection of a 14.94 percent increase.
Altogether, capital formation contributed 3.36 percentage points to GDP growth, the report said.
Consumer spending, another pillar of private consumption, saw a mild 1.9 percent increase from a year earlier.
Consumption of oil and other products continued to climb and retail sales gained 2.31 percent, but new car sales declined and the number of outbound travelers slowed.
Stock trading was sluggish, with growth in daily turnover moderating to 8.35 percent last quarter, compared with 30 percent gains or higher in previous quarters, the report said.
The TAIEX shed 10.94 percent last month, as major technology firms turned conservative amid concern over an escalating US-China trade row that might hurt the regional supply chain and dampen business.
Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) said that consumers might further cap spending this quarter as global market pullbacks create a negative wealth effect.
Exports would also slow, as the trade dispute is eroding the benefits of peak season sales, Sun said.
The government could help compensate by increasing infrastructure expenditure and encouraging capital repatriation, he said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained