Confidence in the nation’s economy has dropped to its lowest level in nearly two years, as major central banks’ monetary tightening, a local COVID-19 outbreak and China’s strict pandemic prevention measures affected sentiment toward economic conditions, wage growth, consumption of big-ticket items and property purchases, a survey published by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) showed on Friday.
The online survey conducted from May 1 to May 7 also showed that Taiwanese have become more pessimistic about the local stock market since last month’s survey, given recent TAIEX volatility amid major central banks’ acceleration of monetary policy tightening.
About 50.1 percent of 21,129 respondents said they were pessimistic about the economy’s chances for improvement in the next six months, with 24.2 percent optimistic, the survey found.
Photo: CNA
Cathay Financial said the survey results pulled its economic optimism index for the next six months down to minus-25.9 this month, its lowest since May 2020, from minus-16.0 last month.
Taiwan’s economy expanded 3.06 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter of the year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on April 28, while expecting GDP to expand more than 4 percent this year.
However, the central bank earlier this month said that it might be difficult for GDP to grow 4 percent this year, citing adverse effects of the Ukraine war, and global monetary tightening on Taiwanese exports in the second half of the year.
The survey also showed that Taiwanese on average expect the economy to grow 3.09 percent this year, lower than the 3.3 percent estimate reported in last month’s survey, while about 81 percent of respondents said GDP would rise more than 2 percent this year.
Moreover, price increases on fruit, vegetables and daily necessities, along with higher costs for fuel and commodities, have raised concerns about inflation, the survey showed, as nearly 89 percent of respondents expect the consumer price index (CPI) to exceed 2 percent this year, with about 45 percent expecting the index to stand at between 2.5 percent and 3 percent.
Cathay Financial said that Taiwanese expect the CPI to increase by an average of 2.66 percent this year, higher than the 2.36 percent estimated in last month’s survey.
The CPI increased 3.38 percent last month, the second consecutive month that the inflation gauge surpassed 3 percent, and the ninth consecutive month it exceeded the central bank’s 2 percent threshold, the DGBAS said.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gains The global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that is affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior
People stand in a Pokemon store in Tokyo on Thursday. One of the world highest-grossing franchises is celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday.
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry. The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Zimbabwe already banned the export of lithium ore in 2022 and last year announced it would halt exports of lithium concentrates from January next year. However, on Wednesday it imposed the ban with immediate effect, leaving unclear what the lithium mining sector would do in the
RSS