The government yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for this year to 1.22 percent from its earlier estimate of 1.06 percent, following a better-than-expected economic pickup last quarter on improving overseas demand for semiconductors.
The nation’s economy expanded 0.7 percent year-on-year last quarter, compared with the 0.69 percent the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) predicted in May.
The second-quarter growth was the first GDP increase in three quarters on an annual basis.
“Growth in the first half was better than we thought in May, primarily because of a pickup in overseas demand in the second quarter,” DGBAS Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) told a news conference.
External demand contributed 0.52 percentage points to GDP growth in the quarter ending June 30, while domestic demand only accounted for 0.18 percentage points, the agency said.
Exports declined at a slower annual pace of 6.23 percent last quarter, compared with the first quarter’s decline of 12.11 percent, the DGBAS said.
It expects the uptrend in exports to continue in the second half, boosted by consumer electronics demand ahead of new product launches by global brands.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) are among companies in Apple Inc’s local supply chain. Apple is widely expected to launch new iPhones next month.
“Overall, the nation’s economy is stabilizing, but the strength is still insignificant. Growth next year will be mild, mainly benefiting from a better global economy and rising demand for semiconductors,” Chu said.
Taiwan should see its GDP expand at a faster annual rate of 1.88 percent next year, as global economic growth gathers pace, and demand for chips and Internet-of-Things devices increases, the DGBAS said.
However, it is expected to lag behind South Korea, its major trade rival, which is likely to post an annual GDP growth of 3 percent next year, based on the projections of IHS Global Insight earlier this month.
Global economic growth is expected to rise 3.9 percent annually next year, better than an estimate of 2.7 percent by the IMF, the DGBAS said.
Benefiting from improving external demand, the nation’s exports are expected to rise at an annual rate of 5.08 percent next year, the DGBAS said.
Private consumption and private investments are next year expected to inch up 1.75 percent and 1.51 percent respectively, the agency said.
The DGBAS blamed a gloomy real-estate market for the anemic expansion in private investment, which it expects to contribute 0.26 percentage points to the GDP growth next year.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)