The Cabinet’s new stimulus measures may not provide a significant boost to the economy this year, economists said yesterday.
“The government did not prescribe the right medicine for the local economy’s illness,” National Taiwan University economics professor Kenneth Lin (林向愷) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Lin said sluggish sentiment in private consumption would be the major factor dragging down economic growth this year, following the sector showing just 0.35 percent expansion year-on-year in the first quarter.
The government’s four measures for boosting private consumption have nothing to do with creating job opportunities or raising wages for the public — the key factors for boosting consumption, Lin said.
As for the investment sector, the new measures also fail to fully satisfy the need of domestic life insurance firms, he said.
Many life insurers are interested in investing in renewable energy resources, which would not only raise private investment, but also generate a higher rate of self-sufficiency for the nation, he said. However, the government’s measures would be too narrow to raise real investments from the private sector, he said.
It will be difficult for the nation to reach 2 percent growth in GDP this year given a lack of determination on the part of the government, never mind the Cabinet’s 3 percent target, he said.
“I haven’t seen any sign of recovery thus far,” he said.
However, Wu Tsai-yi (吳再益), president of the Taiwan Research Institute (台灣綜合研究院), said he thinks the government’s stimulus measures will help.
“In terms of consumption, the government’s measures may boost a large amount of expenditures from the private sector by paying a small amount of subsidies,” Wu said by telephone.
How fast the government can provide the money to support the measures will be the key to their effectiveness, because the government will have to use state-run funds or the national budget to execute most of these stimulus methods, Wu said.
It may still be a challenge to reach the 3 percent growth goal, but the stimulus measures and faster-than-expected economic recovery in the US could help boost GDP this year, he added.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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