While the Cabinet's top economic planning agency projects next year's economic growth will reach 4.7 percent, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday government agencies should strive for 5 percent growth.
"This challenging target can be achieved by reviving domestic and international demand, said Ho Mei-yueh (
Domestic demand will be driven by the five-year, NT$500 billion public-construction project; the continuing six-year, NT$2.6 trillion national development project; and NT$100 billion worth of build-operate-transfer formula construction projects.
Regarding international demand, Ho said she is optimistic the targets for export and import volumes this year will be achieved.
"The export volume between January and September this year has already increased by 9.2 percent compared to the same period last year, and import [volume] increased by 8.1 percent," she said.
The IMF has also projected global trading volume to grow 2.9 percent this year and 5.5 percent next year.
Ho made the remarks yesterday during the press conference held after the weekly closed-door Cabinet meeting.
According to Ho, the council predicted next year's economic growth rate would reach 4.7 percent, the jobless rate would drop to 4.5 percent and the consumer price index rate would climb by 0.7 percent.
The council had projected economic growth this year of 3.06 percent, while other domestic economic institutions predicted the figure would range between 2.65 percent and 3.53 percent.
The IMF projected Taiwan's economic growth rate would reach 2.7 percent this year and 3.8 percent next year.
According to the council, the economic growth rate for the first quarter this year hit 3.53 percent but slipped to a record low of minus 0.08 for the second quarter during the SARS outbreak. It gradually rebounded from the third quarter's 3.96 percent to the fourth quarter's 4.67 percent.
The IMF expects to see the world's economic growth rate reach 3.2 percent this year and 4.1 percent next year.
While the IMF predicted an economic growth rate next year of 3.9 percent for the US, Japan's economy is expected to grow 1.4 percent and the euro region 1.9 percent.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
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