Taiwan’s economic conditions have worsened significantly this quarter and could deteriorate further in the coming six months as downside risks build up amid a trade row between the US and China, German think tank the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said.
The domestic economic landscape has weakened for the fourth consecutive quarter, with the indicator falling from minus-42.1 to minus-52.9, the Ifo World Economic Survey showed.
The institute has since 1989 conducted the quarterly survey on business cycle developments and other economic factors. The latest survey collected responses from 1,293 experts in 122 nations.
All economic indicators for Taiwan moved lower in negative territory, except long-term interest rates and the strength of the US dollar against the New Taiwan dollar, it showed.
That happens when funds take shelter in time deposits and shun investment for fear of losses.
Experts have been looking at soft exports, imports, capital expenditure, consumer spending and local bourses as the global economy stalls, the survey said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest electronic parts suppliers and is taking a hit from inventory adjustments by global technology giants, notably Apple Inc.
More than half of Taiwanese exports are destined for China and the US.
The National Development Council, which helps gather data on Taiwan, said that the government has sought to shore up domestic demand this year through the introduction of stimulus for domestic travel, purchases of energy-saving home appliances and urban renewal.
The government has also eased investment rules to help China-based Taiwanese firms move manufacturing facilities back home, it said.
The measures might help mitigate the pain caused by weak external demand, it added.
The global economic climate reading has dropped from minus-2.2 points to minus-13.1 points this quarter, the survey showed.
The deterioration is more evident in advanced economies, with the US reporting a slump in expectations and assessments, it said.
Experts also revised their estimates significantly downward for the EU, it added.
In contrast, the economic climate in emerging and developing nations has remained largely unchanged, after declining sharply over the two previous quarters, the survey found.
Experts have forecast weaker growth in private consumption, investment and world trade in the next two quarters, it said.
Although a large proportion of respondents said that they still expected interest rates to rise this year, their share has fallen steeply.
They expect the US dollar to depreciate against major currencies worldwide, the survey found.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
Taiwan is attracting a growing number of foreign jobseekers as companies increasingly recruit overseas talent to ease labor shortages and expand global reach, recruitment platform 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) said yesterday. More than 40,000 foreign nationals searched for jobs in Taiwan through the platform last year, a 28 percent increase from a year earlier, the company said. Malaysians accounted for the largest share of overseas jobseekers at 12.2 percent, followed by Indonesians at 11.9 percent and Vietnamese at 10.8 percent. Indonesian applicants surged more than 50 percent year-on-year, while Vietnamese jobseekers rose by more than 30 percent. Applicants from the
RSS