Taiwan's shortening economic cycle has made its stock prices more volatile than before, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday, citing a preliminary report conducted by the Council for Economic Planning and Development.
A council official, who declined to be named, attributed the shortening economic cycle to the closer ties between Taiwan and international markets and to the nation's increasing trade in high-tech and electronics products -- which typically have short life cycles.
High-tech and electronics goods accounted for above 50 percent of Taiwan's exports, according to government statistics.
According to the report, the latest economic cycle, spanning over 36 months between December of 1998 and December of 2001, was lower than the average 58.8 months for past cycles. The latest cycle, the fourth-shortest on record for Taiwan, covered 21 months in expansion and 15 months in contraction, it said.
After conducting further discussion with experts, the council said it will officially release the report sometime between November and December this year, the paper said.
Cheng Chen-mount (鄭貞茂), a researcher from the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台經院), agreed with the official, saying that the shortening economic cycle has been causing Taiwan's stock market to become very volatile since early this year.
Cheng said the nation's economy has begun to rebound this year and the new economic cycle is expected to be longer than the previous one. Taiwan has seen increasingly closer trade ties with China and a booming mainland Chinese economy will help Taiwan's economic cycle to last longer, he explained.
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