The service sector has not yet emerged from a slump amid the COVID-19 pandemic, although the rate of decline eased last quarter, the Commerce Research Institute (商業發展研究院) said yesterday.
The coincidental cyclical composite index for the service industry continued to fall last quarter and did not bottom out in October last year as had been expected following the launch of the government’s Quintuple Stimulus Voucher program, the Taipei-based research body said.
The retreat persisted in January, although the leading cyclical composite index has been rising since July 2020, indicating that economic development is uneven, the institute said.
The findings reflect soft domestic demand, which has persisted amid COVID-19 scares, geopolitical conflicts and extreme climate factors that might continue to be a drag on the economy, it said.
The shadow of “stagflation” — a situation of high inflation and unemployment, and slow growth — looms large after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, adding to the rise in energy and raw material prices, it said.
While Taiwan had impressive GDP growth last year thanks to strong manufacturing activity and exports, private consumption remained weak, the institute said.
That is because the service industry has been hit hard by pandemic restrictions, it said.
Government bailout and stimulus programs provided short-term relief, but failed to induce industrial transformation or upgrade so service providers could become more resilient and competitive, it said.
Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan and the US have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, putting the world at the most risk of stagflation since the energy crisis of the 1970s, it said.
Taipei should quickly draw up plans to offset lost imports to maintain the supply-demand balance and work closer with the private sector amid a digital transformation, and the move toward environmental, social and corporate governance business models, the institute said.
Overdependence on foreign markets should be reduced to bolster Taiwan’s economic resilience and make it less susceptible to external shocks, it said.
Poland is betting on a flood of investments and technology transfers from Taiwanese companies to reengineer its US$1 trillion economy. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday that Poland will no longer be “just an assembly hub” as it pursues further investments from the likes of Foxconn Technology Group (富士康). The firm, whose full name is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), last month agreed to build electric vehicles (EVs) in the European Union nation and now could be a partner in a semiconductor venture, he said. The government’s aim is to boost manufacturing and the country’s high-tech chops in an era
Taiwan remained the sixth-largest net creditor nation in the world last year, despite a fall of more than 10 percent in its net international investment position (NIIP) over the year, the central bank said yesterday. The NIIP is the difference between a country’s external financial assets and its external financial liabilities. Taiwan’s external financial assets hit US$3.27 trillion at the end of last year, up US$275.75 billion or 9.2 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said in its annual NIIP report. The growth largely reflected an increase in holdings of overseas marketable securities by residents in Taiwan, as well as a
BAD FAITH LITIGATION? The two companies, owned by a California-based private equity firm, could be seeking licensing fees or a settlement payout with the suit Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) Director-General Liao Cheng-wei (廖承威) said yesterday he suspected that two firms suing contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) for patent infringement are “patent trolls.” A patent troll refers to a company that buys patents not for manufacturing products, but to sue other companies for compensation, accusing them of using its patents. Patent trolls, formally called Non-Practicing Entities or Patent Assertion Entities, were responsible for more than 50 percent of lawsuits in the US last year, costing targeted businesses tens of billions of US dollars a year, according to the US-based LegalCharity Web site. Asked whether
RESTRICTION BREACH: ASML said that it denies ‘unfounded rumors regarding non-compliance with export controls concerning China,’ and enforces controls strictly US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in a series of recent meetings outlined concerns to Dutch chip-equipment giant ASML Holding NV’s senior leaders that one of its top-of-the-line machines might have made its way into China, in violation of US-led export restrictions. In the meetings, Lutnick expressed concern to ASML executives over the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, people familiar with the talks said. EUV systems are used by firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) to manufacture processors for the likes of Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc. ASML has never been allowed to ship them to China because of curbs
RSS