The nation’s economy last quarter expanded 2.41 percent annually, beating the government’s May estimate of 1.78 percent on the back of better-than-expected private investment and exports, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
“Exports and private investment fared stronger than our expectations, thanks to order transfers and capital repatriation,” DGBAS Senior Executive Officer Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑) told a media briefing in Taipei.
External demand contributed 0.72 percentage points to GDP growth during the April-to-June period, versus a drag three months earlier, as the decline in exports tapered to 2.58 percent. The agency had forecast a 3.43 percent decline.
Photo: Cheng Chi-fang, Taipei Times
Demand for semiconductors and electronics, the mainstay of Taiwanese exports, started to pick up, although most other categories continued to disappoint, Huang said.
As several firms have shifted part of their manufacturing capacity back home amid a trade dispute between China and the US, exports of information and communications products increased 20.15 percent, the agency said.
Exports are likely to gain more momentum after returning to growth in June, thanks to the arrival of a peak season for technology products, the Ministry of Finance said last month.
Major technology firms gave positive guidance in recent earnings conferences, but were wary of headwinds at home and abroad.
Exports of goods and services would grow 4.11 percent annually if excluding a price decline of 5.57 percent in US dollar terms, Huang said.
Capital formation proved the biggest growth driver with a 6.04 percent increase from a year earlier, contributing 1.23 percentage points to GDP growth, the agency said.
The showing beat the agency’s May forecast of a 5.3 percent gain.
“The pace of capital repatriation is much faster than the government’s expectations,” Huang said.
Imports of capital equipment rose 15.95 percent in US dollar terms, as firms raised capital expenditure to maintain technology leadership and seize 5G business opportunities, DGBAS said.
Consumer spending rose 1.57 percent, slower than a projection of 1.76 percent, the agency said.
Meanwhile, daily stock turnover shrank 21.17 percent from a year earlier, subduing the benefits of modest growth in retail, wholesale and dining businesses, it said.
Washington’s tariff hikes on Chinese goods in May unnerved investors, but the sentiment has recovered considerably after the two sides agreed on a truce in June and resumed trade negotiations this week.
In the first two quarters, Taiwan’s economy grew 2.07 percent and is expected to continue growing in the coming quarters.
The agency is to announce its new growth forecast on Aug. 16.
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