Taiwan’s economy is forecast to expand 3.1 percent this year, following a sluggish 1.41 percent uptick last year, as private investment and exports would come out of the woods while private consumption remains healthy, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The GDP forecast suggests an upward revision of 0.09 percentage points from three months earlier, as major tech firms delivered stronger-than-expected earnings results and are upbeat about prospects this year.
“The nation’s economy could see a more balanced recovery in terms of external and domestic demand,” from last year when the services sector single-handedly upheld GDP growth, CIER president Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Hsu Tzu-ling, Taipei Times
Capital formation and private investment could rise 3.12 percent and 1.34 percent respectively this year, from last year’s declines of 6.44 percent and 8.41 percent, Yeh said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to keep its coming 1-nanometer process technology in Taiwan and the investment could exceed NT$1 trillion (US$31.9 billion), Yeh said, adding that the move would benefit local firms in its supply chain, which would be an encouraging development for capital and private investment.
The world’s sole supplier of chips used in Apple Inc’s iPhone series last week told investors it is eying a 25 percent pickup in revenue this year, which is brighter than market expectations.
Exports, about 65 percent of GDP in Taiwan, could bounce 7.65 percent, while imports could grow 5.66 percent in contrast to last year’s retreat of 9.79 percent and 17.79 percent, Yeh said.
National Development Council Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) said the improvement would come as international trade would regain some momentum and inventory corrections for technology products approach an end.
The twists would allow export-oriented economies such as Taiwan, South Korea and ASEAN members to put up better economic showings than last year, Kao said.
The government is to lend support by assisting companies in seeking digital transformation and transition to net zero, she said.
In the meantime, private consumption could register a 2.08 percent increase, slowing from an 8.38 percent advance, as demand for retail sales, tourism and lodging services remains resilient, CIER said.
Consumer prices could return to the central bank’s 2 percent target by growing a mild 1.88 percent, moderating from a 2.5 percent gain last year, it said.
The unemployment rate is likely to average 3.44 percent this year, about the same as 3.48 percent last year, it said.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
BUST FEARS: While a KMT legislator asked if an AI bubble could affect Taiwan, the DGBAS minister said the sector appears on track to continue growing The local property market has cooled down moderately following a series of credit control measures designed to contain speculation, the central bank said yesterday, while remaining tight-lipped about potential rule relaxations. Lawmakers in a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee voiced concerns to central bank officials that the credit control measures have adversely affected the government’s tax income and small and medium-sized property developers, with limited positive effects. Housing prices have been climbing since 2016, even when the central bank imposed its first set of control measures in 2020, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) said. “Since the second half of
AI BOOST: Next year, the cloud and networking product business is expected to remain a key revenue pillar for the company, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu said Manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted its best third-quarter profit in the company’s history, backed by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Net profit expanded 17 percent annually to NT$57.67 billion (US$1.86 billion) from NT$44.36 billion, the company said. On a quarterly basis, net profit soared 30 percent from NT$44.36 billion, it said. Hon Hai, which is Apple Inc’s primary iPhone assembler and makes servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators, said earnings per share expanded to NT$4.15 from NT$3.55 a year earlier and NT$3.19 in the second quarter. Gross margin improved to 6.35 percent,
RSS