Taiwanese businesses were upbeat over the country's economic performance in March, signalling growing optimism for this year's outlook, a survey showed yesterday.
Nearly 60 percent of the 360 local firms polled considered economic conditions for the month "good," double that for the previous month, according to the survey by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院).
Only 6.1 percent of the businesses thought the March performance was "poor," sharply lower than the 23.2 percent recorded a month earlier, the survey said.
TIER attributed the drastic surge in business confidence to increases in productivity, export orders and corporate earnings in March.
Such optimism was unlikely to abate although those anticipating further economic improvement over the next six months shrank to 46.1 percent from 65 percent, an official from the think-tank said.
"That is because the other half of businesses expect the economic conditions to remain as good as they are now," she said.
Some 47.9 percent of the respondents anticipated the economy in the next half-year to stay the same, up from 30.3 percent in February, with 6 percent expecting the economy to worsen, compared to 4.7 percent a month before, according to the survey.
TIER also revised upward its forecast for this year's economic growth to 2.88 percent from 2.38 percent in January amid anticipation of soaring overseas demand and increases in corporate and consumer spending in the second half of the year. It expected the economy to grow 4.33 percent in the third quarter and 4.63 percent in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, the Council for Economic Planning and Development reported yesterday that Taiwan's composite index emerged out of recessionary levels in March for the first time in 15 months.
The composite index, which reflects current economic conditions, rose from a recessionary "blue" reading on the five-color scale, the council said.
The leading indicator index for March, which gauges economic activity for the next three to six months, rose for the sixth consecutive month, up 2.4 percent from February to 99.9 points, it said.
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
‘A SERIOUS THREAT’: Japan has expressed grave concern over the Strait’s security over the years, which demonstrated Tokyo’s firm support for peace in the area, an official said China’s military drills around Taiwan are “incompatible” with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya said during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (王毅) on Thursday. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important for the international community, including Japan,” Iwaya told Wang during a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Kuala Lumpur. “China’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan are incompatible with this,” a statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday cited Iwaya as saying. The Foreign Ministers’ Meetings are a series of diplomatic
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
‘REALISTIC’ APPROACH: The ministry said all the exercises were scenario-based and unscripted to better prepare personnel for real threats and unexpected developments The army’s 21st Artillery Command conducted a short-range air defense drill in Taoyuan yesterday as part of the Han Kuang exercises, using the indigenous Sky Sword II (陸射劍二) missile system for the first time in the exercises. The armed forces have been conducting a series of live-fire and defense drills across multiple regions, simulating responses to a full-scale assault by Chinese forces, the Ministry of National Defense said. The Sky Sword II missile system was rapidly deployed and combat-ready within 15 minutes to defend Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in a simulated attack, the ministry said. A three-person crew completed setup and
RSS