An official from the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) predicted yesterday that domestic consumption will play a pivotal role in the country's economic growth.
The official made the remarks in light of the gradual but stable growth in Taiwan's exports.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the value of Taiwan's exports reached US$16.32 billion last month, an increase of 4 percent over the same month last year.
Cumulatively, the value of export orders received by Taiwanese manufacturers in the first five months totalled US$74.81 billion, a growth of 7.6 percent over the same period of last year.
Analyzing Taiwan's export performance in the second half of this year, the TIER official predicted that exports will maintain a certain level of growth.
However, due to soaring prices of oil and other raw materials, the growth in value of imports will surpass that of exports, gradually reducing the nation's trade surplus, the official added.
Although orders received by Taiwanese manufacturers have usually set new records, the manufacturing production index has not risen in accordance with the growth pace of export orders, due largely to the fact that a growing number of these export goods are made in Taiwan companies' overseas plants.
According to the MOEA statistics, the manufacturing production index stood at 132.46 last month, a decrease of 1.4 percent on a year-to-year basis, while the manufacturing production index in the first five months registered 126.32, a decline of 0.85 percent over the same period last year.
Forecasting that exports will see a growth at a slower pace in the next six months due to stable economic growth in the US and China, the official predicted that domestic consumption will play a greater contribution to the country's economic growth.
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