Taiwan’s economic indicators flashed “green” for the 10th consecutive month last month, indicating steady economic expansion, the National Development Council said yesterday.
The overall composite score of the business monitoring indicators rose by one point to 25 from the previous month, council director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) told a news conference.
“We expect the global economy to perform better than this year, which should benefit Taiwan’s export growth,” Wu said, adding, however, that the impact of the decline in international oil prices on the global economy should be monitored closely.
The council uses a five-color spectrum to categorize the nation’s economic health, with “blue” signifying sluggish, “green” stable growth and “red” booming, while “yellow-blue” indicates a transition between stable and sluggish, and “yellow-red” a transition between stable and booming.
Wu said that customs-cleared exports changed from a “yellow-blue” light to “green,” while imports of machineries and electrical equipment changed from “green” to “yellow-red,” with both gaining one point each.
The industrial production index, on the other hand, dropped one point, with the economic light changing from “yellow-red” to “green,” mainly due to the 3 percent decline in petrochemical output in the wake of falling global oil prices.
The fall in energy prices should benefit big oil consumers whose economies are weakening, such as the EU, China and Japan, Wu said.
“It would also benefit Taiwanese exports and have a positive influence on commodity prices,” Wu said.
“The markets are also watching the US to see when the Federal Reserve will raise interests rates and how it would affect the global economy,” Wu said, adding that the council expects the US’ strong economic recovery to drive Taiwan’s economic growth next year.
Although the Chinese economy appears to be slowing down, it is a good thing to see the country adjusting its economic structure, Wu said.
“China has stopped putting the manufacturing industry in first place and started to value the service industry and domestic demand, which is good for its long-term economic development,” she said.
Overall, the council is “cautiously optimistic” about the nation’s economic outlook and expects the economy next year to be similar to this year, Wu said.
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