The government’s business climate monitor last month flashed “green” for the fourth consecutive month, indicating that the economy is still on track for recovery, the National Development Council said yesterday.
“The indicators showed that the economy is recovering on a steady and firm pace,” Department of Economic Development Director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) told a news conference.
The council’s monitoring indicators measure growth or decline in nine areas of the economy.
The total score of the monitoring indicators rose one point to 24 last month, driven by better exports and industrial production as global demand for next-generation consumer electronics devices picked up, Wu said.
Delayed shipments from September because of two typhoons also lent support to last month’s improved figures, she said.
The leading index, which forecasts economic conditions three to six months ahead, last month climbed 0.21 percent from September to 100.82, while the coincident index — which describes then-current economic conditions — edged up 1.09 percent to 104.05 last month, the data showed.
Both the leading index and coincident index rose for the eighth consecutive month, the report said.
Among the leading index series, the semiconductor industry’s book-to-ratio figure dropped from a month earlier, but the value of orders grew by a double-digit percentage year-on-year last month, Wu said.
Growth momentum is likely to sustain for the rest of this year on the back of demand for electronics ahead of the Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays, Wu said.
Exports this quarter are expected to outpace those from last quarter, Wu said, citing the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics’ (DGBAS) forecast released on Friday last week.
The DGBAS estimated exports would expand by 7.17 percent this quarter on robust global orders for electronics components.
The semiconductor industry’s increased expenditure on advanced technologies should help boost domestic investments, Wu said, adding that the government’s plans to strengthen infrastructure spending would also help.
“Overall, we are optimistic the indicators will remain ‘green’ for the remainder of the year,” Wu said.
However, Wu said uncertainty caused by US president-elect Donald Trump’s campaign pledges to raise trade barriers might pose a risk to Taiwan’s export-oriented economy.
Trump’s plans to expand infrastructure and cut taxes might benefit the US economy, but if the US implements measures aimed at trade protectionism it would have negative implications for Taiwan, Wu said.
The council also continues to monitor the European economy, following Britain’s vote to leave the EU in June, Wu added.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
RSS