The government’s business climate monitor was “blue” for the ninth straight month last month, as the nation’s export-oriented economy remained soft, although it is more likely to recover next quarter, the National Development Council said yesterday.
Overall, the monitor, which is made up of nine components, rose from 13 in June to 15 last month, while the index of leading indicators declined less than it had a month earlier, giving the council more confidence that a recovery could be expected, council deputy economic researcher Chiu Chiu-ying (邱秋瑩) told a media briefing.
“The gauge is now only two points away from the ‘yellow-blue’ zone,” thanks to a resilient job market and local bourse,” Chiu said.
Photo courtesy of the National Development Council
The council uses a five-color system to portray the nation’s economic health, with “green” signifying steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. Dual colors indicate a transition to a stronger or weaker state.
Rallies on the TAIEX and improvements in money supply last month contributed one point each, the council said.
The high sales season for technology products by global brands underpins the council’s expectation of a recovery, Chiu said.
As artificial intelligence applications gain in popularity, the growth momentum of Taiwan’s exports would also improve, she said.
Domestically, the development of renewable energy sources and reshoring of Taiwanese firms from abroad would lend support to private investment, the council said.
Meanwhile, consumer spending would continue to thrive due to pent-up demand in the post-COVID-19 era, it said.
The index of leading indicators, which seeks to project the economic situation over the next six months, decreased 0.27 percent to 99.09, compared with a drop of 0.63 percent in June, the council said.
In addition to the stock index, new construction floor space and business confidence saw positive cyclical movements, it said, whereas export orders, labor accession rates and imports of semiconductor equipment continued to drag.
The index of coincident indicators, which reflects the current economic situation, rose 1 percent to 96.42, compared with 0.04 percent one month earlier, as exports, energy consumption, non-farm payrolls and manufacturing sales picked up, the council said.
Their increases offset a persistent retreat in industrial output and imports of electrical and machinery equipment, it said.
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
RSS