The nation’s export orders rose faster than economists expected last month, as slower Chinese economic growth and Europe’s debt crisis failed to dampen overseas demand.
Orders, an indication of shipments in the next one to three months, increased 22.48 percent from a year earlier after a 34.03 percent gain in May, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a report yesterday. The median estimate of 15 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 21.7 percent gain.
GROWING DEMAND
PHOTO: MAURICE TSAI, BLOOMBERG
“External demand for Taiwan’s electronic products is growing as stores build inventory for August and September when schools reopen,” Hsu Kuo-an (徐國安), an economist at Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said. “The economic recovery will continue to help support growth.”
Chinese demand for Taiwanese products, such as computer chips and televisions, helped to stoke a 13.3 percent expansion in the nation’s economy in the first quarter, the fastest pace in more than three decades.
Taiwan’s central bank raised borrowing costs unexpectedly on June 24 for the first time since 2008, increasing the discount rate on 10-day loans to 1.375 percent from a record-low 1.25 percent. It said the move reflected the nation’s economic recovery, including export gains.
NEW HIGHS
The value of export orders climbed to US$34.22 billion last month from US$33.73 billion in May, yesterday’s report showed. Orders may rise to a record US$400 billion this year, Huang Ji-Shih (黃吉實), head of the economic ministry’s statistics division, told a media briefing yesterday.
Orders for electronics rose 26.91 percent last month after a 32.75 percent increase in May, yesterday’s report showed. Demand for precision goods rose 25.21 percent.
CLOUDS AHEAD
Recent data have indicated a weaker US economic recovery and a slowdown in Chinese growth as Europe’s financial troubles continue, clouding the outlook for Asian exports.
The US economy grew at a 2.7 percent annual rate in the first quarter, less than an earlier estimate of 3 percent, according to US Commerce Department figures published last month.
Europe is stress testing its 91 largest banks this month to restore confidence following the region’s sovereign debt crisis.
China’s economic expansion eased to 10.3 percent in the second quarter from 11.9 percent in the first quarter, the country’s statistics bureau said last week, after the government moved to temper growth.
Export orders to China and Hong Kong combined rose 15.54 percent last month from a year earlier, after a 34.34 percent gain in May, the data showed. Orders from the US climbed 17.44 percent from a year earlier, after a 20.32 percent rise in May.
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