The government’s business climate monitor returned to “green” as the nation’s export-reliant economy resumed a stable recovery after two months of slowdown, the National Development Council said yesterday.
The total score for the major economic bellwether stood at 24 last month, a 4-point gain from January, backed by improvements in industrial output, capital equipment imports and producers’ shipments, the council said.
“The latest figures suggest a healthy state for the nation’s economy, although the pace of growth remains modest,” council research director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) told a media briefing.
The trade tensions between the US and China merit close attention and so do monetary policy moves by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks, Wu said.
The US and China account for about 50 percent of the nation’s exports.
The council uses a five-color spectrum to identify the nation’s economic state, with “blue” representing a recession, “green” signifying steady growth and “red” indicating overheating. Dual-color signals suggest the economy is changing gears.
CONFIDENCE
The leading indicator index, which is aimed at forecasting the economic landscape six months ahead, stood at 101.17, down 0.13 percentage points from one month earlier, the council said.
The indices on semiconductor equipment imports, building permits and employee payrolls posted positive cyclical movements, while export orders, monetary supply and stock prices had negative cyclical movements, it said.
The coincident indicators, which reflect the current economic state, printed 102.05, up 0.05 percentage points from one month earlier, it said.
The measures on producers shipments for manufacturing, industrial production and electrical equipment imports registered positive cyclical movements, while sales of trade and food services, exports, non-agricultural employment and power consumption saw negative cyclical movements, it said.
The nation’s economy might continue to find support in global economic expansion and new technology applications, Wu added.
Trade disputes between the US and China have yet to impact on consumer confidence as the measure increased to a 32-month high of 87.86 this month, a National Central University (NCU) survey showed yesterday.
The gauge on stock investment confidence picked up 5.3 points to 106.2, above the neutral threshold of 100, the monthly report said.
NCU Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development director Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) attributed the rosy sentiment to the timing of the survey, which was conducted from Monday to Thursday last week, before the world’s two largest economies announced protectionist measures.
The local bourse has come through sluggish transactions, judging from the daily turnover of NT$120 billion (US$4.12 billion) so far this year, compared with an average of NT$100 billion last year and NT$80 billion in 2016, NCU professor of economics Yau Ruey (姚睿) said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors