The government’s business climate monitor last month flashed “green” for the third consecutive month due to strong exports, which in turn benefited electrical and machinery equipment imports, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.
The total score of the nine constituent readings gained 1 point from the previous month, increasing to 30.
This indicates a state of steady growth, thanks to aggressive spending of global technology titans on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, NDC research director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan is home to the world’s major suppliers of advanced chips, high-end servers, storage and memory devices.
“The nation’s exports would thrive, with the landscape looking bright and clear for AI applications,” Wu told a news conference in Taipei.
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 suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker state.
Outbound shipments last month expanded 18.9 percent year-on-year to US$41.82 billion, with information and communications technology products more than doubling, the Ministry of Finance said earlier this month.
The uptrend is expected to gather steam this quarter, with more product categories to emerge from a slowdown, the ministry said.
Similarly, the tracker on stock price movements showed a boom signal, as the TAIEX rallied above the 20,000-point mark, prompting foreign portfolio managers to lower their holdings and lock in profit, the NDC report said.
The index of leading indicators, which forecasts the economic condition in the following six months, climbed 0.32 percent month-on-month to 101.5, as readings on export orders, money supply, share prices, labor accession rate and business confidence gained headway.
The improvements came even though imports of semiconductor equipment and construction floor space declined, the NDC said.
Local firms remained generally cautious about capital spending on concerns over stubborn inflation in the US and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The index of coincident indicators, which reflects the current economic situation, rose 0.64 percent to 101.45, as all constituent readings on electricity use, overtime hours, and wholesale, retail and restaurant revenues picked up, the council said.
Local firms would benefit further from the positive technology product cycle, but risks regarding restrictive monetary policy in the US, volatile geopolitical tensions and US-China trade disputes warrant caution, the NDC said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
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Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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