Taiwan’s business climate monitor last month flashed “green,” but lost three points, indicating that the economy expanded despite heightened uncertainty, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.
The total score was 24, the lowest since August 2020, as major economic barometers including exports, machinery equipment imports, non-farm payroll and stock prices declined, the council’s monthly report said.
“Uncertainty for exports looms large amid unfavorable developments abroad, but it is too early to interpret the trend as an economic turnaround,” NDC researcher Lin Tzu-fang (林慈芳) said.
Photo: CNA
US graphics card maker Nvidia Corp and notebook vendor Dell Technologies Inc reported disappointing earnings figures for the previous quarter on a slump in end-market demand, boding ill for local firms in their supply chain.
The council uses a five-color system to indicate the state of the nation’s economy, with “green” meaning steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” signaling a recession. Dual colors indicate a shift to a stronger or weaker state.
There is no need to be overly pessimistic because an ongoing recovery in domestic demand would help mitigate the impact of external headwinds, the official said, adding that the current quarter would be the strongest in terms of GDP growth, based on the projection of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
The upcoming release of next-generation smartphones by Apple Inc and other brands should shore up business at local assemblers, chipmakers, and suppliers of camera lenses, battery packs and other components, Lin said.
“Therefore, it is better to wait and see how things pan out,” Lin said.
The index of leading indicators, which forecasts the economic situation in the coming six months, shrank 1.56 percent to 95.89, as imports of semiconductor equipment showed positive cyclical movements and the remaining six measures showed retreats, the council said.
It is the ninth consecutive month that the index declined, with a cumulated fall of 7.33 percent, Lin said, adding that the magnitude of correction is not big enough to signal a turnaround.
The index of coincident indicators, which reflects the current economic situation, lost 1.08 percent to 98.33, as all sub-indices except the overall power consumption sub-index softened from one month earlier, the council said.
Domestic tourism has recovered some momentum and is expected to post increases in the coming quarters as authorities are expected to ease COVID-19 controls, it said.
Private investment would hold firm amid a global supply chain realignment, it said.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said the DRAM supply crunch could extend through 2028, as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has led the world’s major memory makers to dramatically reduce production of standard DRAM and allocate a significant portion of their capacity for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The most severe supply constraints would stretch to the first half of next year due to “very limited” increases in new DRAM capacity worldwide, Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told a news briefing. The company plans to increase monthly 12-inch wafer capacity to 20,000 in the first half of 2028 after a
Taiwan has enough crude oil reserves for more than 100 days and sufficient natural gas reserves for more than 11 days, both above the regulatory safety requirement, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, adding that the government would prioritize domestic price stability as conflicts in the Middle East continue. Overall, energy supply for this month is secure, and the government is continuing efforts to ensure sufficient supply for next month, Kung told reporters after meeting with representatives from business groups at the ministry in Taipei. The ministry has been holding daily cross-ministry meetings at the Executive Yuan to ensure
Property transactions in the nation’s six special municipalities plunged last month, as a lengthy Lunar New Year holiday combined with ongoing credit tightening dampened housing market activity, data compiled by local land administration offices released on Monday showed. The six cities recorded a total of 10,480 property transfers last month, down 42.5 percent from January and marking the second-lowest monthly level on record, the data showed. “The sharp drop largely reflected seasonal factors and tighter credit conditions,” Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) deputy research manager Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday fell in February this year, reducing
RSS