After three consecutive quarters of decline, the economy rebounded in the second quarter with year-on-year growth of 0.69 percent, supported by better-than-expected exports, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The 0.69 percent growth was higher than the 0.48 percent growth the DGBAS forecast in May.
“By the latest data, we could say that the economy is stabilizing slowly. Some local industries showed a positive outlook, such as the electronic components industry,” DGBAS section head Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) told a news conference.
Photo: Cheng Chi-fang, Taipei Times
Exports of electronic goods increased by 1.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, ending four quarters of contraction, thanks to a recovery in the semiconductor industry, the statistics agency said in a statement.
A sharp decline in the number of Chinese tourist in the second quarter had no obvious impact on the economy as tourists from other nations, such as Japan and South Korea, filled the gap, Wang said.
After price adjustments, real exports, including exported services and goods, increased by 0.65 percent in the second quarter, better than the agency’s 0.29 percent growth forecast, DGBAS data showed.
Private consumption in the second quarter rose 1.05 percent year-on-year, led by a 4.71 percent increase in new car purchases on the back of government subsidies.
However, capital formation — the net additions of equipment, buildings and other intermediate goods — declined 3.11 percent last quarter from the previous year, as the appreciation of the yen dragged down local capital formation, Wang said.
Nearly one-third of the nation’s machinery is imported from Japan, she added.
By sector, GDP growth in the second quarter was led by the output of financial and insurance companies, which climbed 1.6 percent from a year earlier, while manufacturing sector remained sluggish on muted demand with output falling 0.12 percent year-on-year, the smallest decline in five quarters, according to DGBAS.
The second quarter’s mild economic growth has not changed the agency’s full-year GDP estimate of 1.06 percent, Wang said.
In the first half of this year, GDP increased slightly by 0.01 percent from the previous year and the economy might remain weak in the second half due to various macroeconomic uncertainties including terrorist attacks, Brexit impacts and the rise of protectionism, Wang said.
TAIWAN PROTECTION MEASURE: US Army General Charles Flynn would not say where in the Asia-Pacific the missiles would be sent, but only that they would arrive in 2024 The US is to send medium-range missiles including the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Tomahawk to the Asia-Pacific next year to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan, US military news Web site Defense One reported. The report cited comments US Army General Charles Flynn made during the annual Halifax International Security Forum on Nov. 19. “We have tested them and we have a battery or two of them today,” Flynn was quoted as saying. “In [20]24. We intend to deploy that system in your region. I’m not going to say where and when. But I will just say that we will
UNUSUAL UPTICK: There are more flu-like illnesses in northern China than in the past 3 years, but data from Beijing showed that known pathogens are responsible Responding to an uptick in respiratory illnesses in China, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it has instructed international airport and port quarantine centers to raise their alert levels, and plans to issue an alert to healthcare practitioners. The number of flu-like illnesses reported in northern China has been increasing for five consecutive weeks, and is higher than the same period in the past three years, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said. “According to the WHO’s latest statement, issued yesterday, information provided by Chinese government showed that the illnesses were mainly reported among children, and the illnesses were attributed
LOYALTY: The 10 active and retired soldiers betrayed the nation and its people by leaking and passing on military secrets to China, the High Prosecutors’ Office said Ten former and current military officers were yesterday indicted on charges of spying for China, including two who allegedly filmed themselves pledging loyalty to Beijing. The High Prosecutors’ Office requested life imprisonment for the suspects in light of the severity of the crime. The 10 active-duty and retired officers included members of the 601st Brigade of the Aviation Special Forces comprising attack helicopter squadrons and elite combat units in charge of defending northern Taiwan, including Taipei. The other suspects came from Huadong Defense Command, in charge of defending the eastern coast; Kinmen Defense Command, in charge of defending Kinmen and Matsu; and one
THREE-WAY RACE: Hou You-yi said until the last minute he hoped to run with Ko Wen-je, but the latter did not pick up the phone when he called to make a final pitch The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) registered their own candidates yesterday after a breakdown in coalition talks, while independent candidate Terry Gou (郭台銘) dropped out, setting up a three-way race for the presidential election in January. TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was the first to officially register his candidacy with the Central Election Commission in Taipei yesterday, shortly after naming TPP Legislator Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) as his running mate. Wu, the daughter of former Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進), is a TPP legislator-at-large who was appointed in November last year and had served
RSS