The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year to 5.88 percent, up 0.42 percentage points from its June projection to the highest in 11 years on the back of strong exports.
The growth might moderate to 3.69 percent next year, as global demand for devices for remote working and schooling taper off with the reopening of economies and growing COVID-19 vaccination rates worldwide, it said.
“Although the virus outbreak is taking a toll on consumer activity, exports proved much better last quarter and will remain strong for the rest of the year,” DGBAS Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) told an online news conference.
Photo: CNA
Outbound shipments surged 37.5 percent in the April-to-June period, beating the previous prediction of 32.8 percent, the agency’s report showed.
Major technology firms posted robust earnings for last quarter, which is traditionally a slow season for technology products.
Many firms are looking at flat sales for this quarter, despite the coming holiday season, which could be due to customers overbooking to avoid supply shortages amid shipping disruptions and lockdowns in some markets.
The economy grew 7.43 percent in the second quarter, slowing from a revised 9.27 percent upturn for the first quarter, it said.
Foreign trade accounted for 5.14 percentage points and capital formation contributed another 2.14 percentage points, it said.
Tech firms invested in capacity expansions, telecom operators built infrastructure for 5G communications networks and shipping companies acquired containers and vessels to meet a boom in business, it said.
Exports, private investment and government expenditure together more than muted a 0.54 percent decline in consumer spending induced by a level 3 COVID-19 alert and spiking local virus infections in the second quarter, it said.
The government would introduce stimulus measures to energize private consumption once the virus outbreak has subsided, Statistics Department head Tsai Yu-tai (蔡鈺泰) said.
A distribution of consumer vouchers planned by the government could boost GDP growth by 0.3 percentage points, Tsai said.
For the first half of this year, GDP growth reached 8.34 percent and is expected to lose some steam to 3.31 percent in the current quarter and 4.01 percent in the fourth quarter, it said.
The high comparison base last year has much to do with a numerical slowdown for the coming two quarters, the agency said.
Taiwanese chip and printed circuit board suppliers gave positive guidance for their businesses this quarter and beyond, but smartphone assemblers and laptop makers are forecasting flat sales or modest retreats.
For the whole of this year, exports are expected to advance 28.15 percent, while imports might gain 30.96 percent, faster than 20.4 percent and 22.53 percent previously, the DGBAS said.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS