The government’s business climate monitor flashed “green” for the second consecutive month last month, indicating that the economy is on a stable course of recovery, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.
Council research director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) attributed the continued improvement to robust demand for consumer electronics in the lead-up to the holiday season at the end of the year.
The total score for major economic barometers stood at 30 last month, a five point increase from August, as inventory demand from global technology brands drove up business for local exporters in their supply chain, Wu said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest chipmakers, chip designers and suppliers of camera lenses, casings, touchpanels and other electronics used in smartphones, tablets, notebook computers and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The council uses a five-color system to reflect the state of the economy, with “green” indicating steady growth and “red” suggesting overheating, while “blue” signals a recession. Dual-color signals mean the economy is changing gears.
Wang said the uptrend would extend through Christmas and the Lunar New Year, adding that the anniversary promotions by local department stores would energize retail sales.
The index of leading indicators, which looks ahead to the coming six months, expanded 0.2 percent to 101.36 last month, gaining for the fourth month in a row, the council said.
While the index’s five constituent measures, such as building permits and export orders, showed positive trends, imports of capital equipment used in the semiconductor industry declined, an NDC report said.
Taiwanese companies’ share of global semiconductor equipment demand is slipping as rivals in China and South Korea seek to expand.
The council’s index of coincident indicators, which reflects the current economic status, grew 1.39 percent to 104.19, as seven subindices showed positive cyclical movements, the council said.
The constituent measures are electric power consumption, customs-cleared exports, sales of trade and food services, producer’s manufacturing shipments, imports of machinery and electrical equipment, non-farm payrolls and industrial output.
Meanwhile, the council said the lagging indicators stood at 99.08, down 0.33 percent from August, dragged by a smaller ratio of the inventories to sales and higher production costs.
The jobless rate, payrolls in industry and services, loans and investment by financial institutions, and interbank overnight rates all registered positive cyclical movements, the council said.
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