The nation’s economic condition is deteriorating this quarter, but might rebound in the second half of this year, when global trade is to regain better growth momentum, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said yesterday.
The gauge for the nation’s economy was minus-47.1 points, from minus-35.3 in the previous quarter, the German think tank said in its World Economic Survey, which collected responses from 1,281 experts in 119 nations.
Positive scores indicate expectations of improvement, while negative values suggest exacerbation.
Capital expenditure registered minus-5.9, and although it was still negative, the rating eased significantly from minus-52.9 three months earlier, as local firms acquired machinery equipment to maintain technology leadership and expand capacity, the institute said.
Private consumption posted minus-23.5, flat from the previous quarter.
The results indicate that the worst is likely over and the nation’s export-reliant economy might come out of the woods from next quarter, said the National Development Council, which helped compile the survey.
This explains why experts are positive about almost all economic gauges for the coming six months, it said.
Economic conditions, capital expenditure, private consumption, inflation, exports and imports might all bounce to growth mode, it added.
Capital repatriation by Taiwanese firms in China accounted for the fast pickup in private investment and helped push up new construction floors last quarter to a four-year high, the council said.
The government has lent support by removing investment barriers and facilitating budgets to improve infrastructure, it said.
However, the experts were less upbeat about the outlook of financial markets.
The TAIEX is expected to dip in the next six months, dragged by correction pressures after reclaiming the 10,000-point mark, the survey showed.
Interest rates for long-term and short-term lending might take a downturn, as the central bank has favored easing monetary policy to support economic growth, it said.
The US dollar is likely to weaken against the New Taiwan dollar, after the US Federal Reserve voiced plans to halt monetary tightening this year, the survey said.
Globally, the Ifo indicator rose from minus-13.1 points to minus-2.4 points, after having fallen four times in a row, it said.
Expectations for the coming months have brightened considerably, meaning that the global economy should gradually strengthen over the year, the survey said.
Experts expect the global economy to grow by 3.4 percent this year, as the economic climate recovers in most parts of the world, it added.
In most emerging and developing nations, the experts’ assessment of the current economic situation was better than three months earlier, but the assessment for advanced economies deteriorated, the survey showed.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”