Taiwanese imports and exports posted substantial year-on-year growth for the sixth consecutive month last month. Imports climbed 52.6 percent from a year ago to US$19.38 billion, while exports rose 47.8 percent year-on-year to US$21.9 billion, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
However, exports were down US$1.43 billion, or 6.1 percent, from the previous month and imports declined US$2.5 million, or 11.4 percent month-on-month, the ministry said, blaming the declines on the low season for certain goods.
“It is normal that April figures are worse than March [figures] based on historical data,” said Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞), head of the ministry’s statistics department.
Of the US$7.1 billion year-on-year gain in exports last month, shipments to China, including Hong Kong, saw the largest increase at US$3.5 billion, or 56.5 percent, from a year earlier, followed by ASEAN at US$1.14 billion, or 55.1 percent.
Exports to China totaled US$9.7 billion last month, accounting for 44.2 percent of total outbound shipments. Lin said that was the highest ratio in recorded history.
Cheng Cheng-mount (鄭貞茂), chief economist at Citigroup Taiwan Inc, said by telephone that a substantial pick-up in exports to China indicated that the nation had recovered from the world financial crisis faster than other economies.
Imports of capital equipment rose US$1.56 billion, or 93 percent, year-on-year, to US$3.25 billion last month, representing the second straight month exceeding US$3 billion, the ministry’s data showed.
In the first four months of the year, exports totaled US$83.73 billion, posting an increase of 51.2 percent year-on-year, while imports rose 71.1 percent from a year earlier to US$76.29 billion. Both were the second highest amounts in history for that period.
With export orders reaching a record high last month, Lin remained upbeat about the outlook for exports in the following months, saying that “exports are expected to show signs of steady growth.”
Lin said that a strong economic recovery in Asia had driven Taiwanese exports, with outbound shipments to the region accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total amount.
She added that the IMF had raised its GDP forecast for Asia to 7.1 percent.
However, she warned of uncertainties that might derail the nation’s economic growth, such as a surge in the price of agricultural and industrial raw materials, European governments’ debt crisis, global high unemployment and property inflation in China.
Based on last month’s data, Chen forecast that exports in the second quarter would rise 38 percent from a year ago and 30 percent for the full year, saying that the impact of a government-proposed cross-strait pact on exports would be limited.
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