The government yesterday raised its economic growth forecast for this year on hopes of an economic recovery in the second half of this year.
Following a quarterly meeting yesterday to discuss economic conditions, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) revised upward its GDP growth forecast to 3.06 percent from the original 2.89 percent it estimated in May.
The government statistics agency in May cut its economic forecast to 2.89 percent from a February estimate of 3.68 percent after taking the effects of the SARS epidemic into account.
DGBAS yesterday attributed the upward revision to the fact that domestic consumption recovered rapidly in June after the SARS outbreak was contained.
"Since the second half of June, SARS has been contained and demand at home and overseas is recovering," Hale Liu (劉三琦), head of the DGBAS, said at a news conference.
With rising overseas demand, local economic companies' fundamentals are expected to improve in the second half of the year, Liu said.
During the second quarter SARS claimed 84 lives from 671 infections in the nation, the third worst-hit area after China and Hong Kong.
During the second quarter, exports only grew 3.7 percent, about a third of the pace in the first three months of this year. But Liu said exports are expected to rise 7.1 percent from a year earlier, compared with the 7.0 percent it estimated in May. Imports may grow 5.1 percent, compared with 5.6 percent previously forecast, he said.
DGBAS cut its private investment growth forecast for the year to 1.6 percent from 5 percent previously and predicts the consumer price index may fall 0.09 percent year-on-year, compared with a May estimate of a 0.06 percent decline.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique