Local enterprises’ outlook toward the domestic manufacturing sector improved slightly last month, according to a monthly report released yesterday by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院).
The TIER, one of the nation’s leading think tanks, said that although electronics exports remained overshadowed by weakening global demand, outbound sales in machinery, textiles, optoelectronics and auto parts stabilized during the month, which helped to boost optimism.
Based on the institute’s monthly survey of business sentiment, its manufacturing composite index rose 0.13 points from April to 96.42 last month, breaking a three-month losing streak.
Optimism toward the local service sector also improved slightly, with the service composite index up 0.22 points month-on-month to 97.02 last month, as retail and wholesale operators appeared upbeat, the think tank said.
TIER president Lin Chien-fu (林建甫) said that while the global economy remains on the road to recovery, it has been a slower comeback than the market had previously expected.
However, the US economy — the largest in the world — has been shedding the weakness of the first quarter, when bitter weather and strikes by port workers affected consumption and retail sales, Lin said.
He added that other economies, such as China and the eurozone, improved as they eased their monetary policies.
As a result, while the pace of the global economic recovery remained slow, it appeared stable, Lin said.
Despite a slight recovery in manufacturing sentiment, the mood toward the local construction sector worsened, with the composite index of the construction sector down 3.4 points from April at 77.74 last month, the TIER report shows.
Lin said that a weaker outlook toward the property market largely reflected a decline in transactions of homes, shops and offices, while the number of public works has also been on the decline, dampening optimism.
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