The government’s business climate monitor remained “yellow-blue” last month, even though there were fewer working days and the low-sales season for retail and restaurant businesses began, the National Development Council said on Wednesday.
The business climate gauge shed three points to 17, just one point from “blue,” the council said.
The council uses a five-color system to describe the state of the domestic economy, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting overheating and “blue” signaling a recession. Color combinations indicate a transition.
“Wholesale, retail and restaurant revenues showed signs of slowing down, while imports of machinery and electrical equipment floundered, due to weakening demand abroad,” NDC research Director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) told a media briefing.
Taiwan is heavily dependent on electronics exports and is weathering a global correction cycle for technology products.
Retail and restaurant sales, a critical measure of private consumption, also slowed after the Lunar New Year holiday and could remain listless until the summer vacation, Wu said.
Almost all economic barometers indicate the nation’s economy is losing steam and the council would remain alert to help rein in downside risks, Wu said.
The leading index series, which predicts the economic climate for the subsequent six months, shed an extra 0.02 percent for the ninth consecutive month to 99.78, the council’s report said.
Data on export orders, stock prices, employment and business confidence continued to register negative cyclical movements, while imports of semiconductor equipment, money supply and floor space in new construction projects picked up, the report said.
The coincident index series, which reflects current economic trends, dropped 1.07 percent to 97.14, weakening for the 14th straight month, it showed.
Almost all sub-indices on industrial production, exports and non-farm payrolls subsided. Energy consumption was the only exception with a small gain, the report said.
Poor economic data eroded consumer confidence as the index weakened modestly to 84.69 this month, a National Central University (NCU) survey found.
The public were downbeat about consumer prices, equities investment and household income levels, it said.
People were slightly more confident about economic outlook, the job market and purchases of durable goods, it said.
Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the NCU Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development, which conducts the survey, said that progress in the US-China trade dispute has helped ease concern about the global economy, although uncertainty lingers.
The government’s stimulus measures and capital repatriation expectations could lend support to the job market and industrial property transactions, he added.
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