What you don't know can't hurt you. In the administration's latest move to manipulate the economy, top number crunchers surprised the nation yesterday by refusing to make public "abnormal" consumer confidence figures.
State statisticians permanently canceled the release of a quarterly consumer confidence survey yesterday, saying the poor results reflected a lack of rationality on the part of consumers. The agency said the decision was designed to lessen the burden on Taiwan's already-shaky economy.
"We don't want to mislead the public ... as the survey results are not normal. If we publish this weird number, it would have a bad influence on both the markets and the economy," said Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS,
In an official written statement, the DGBAS said the survey -- under the influence of non-economic factors -- had lost its objectivity and accuracy, thereby the decision was made to withhold the information from the public. Government intervention in the economy -- a common practice in the stock, banking and industrial markets -- has taken on new meaning with the DGBAS' failure to make public the survey's findings.
The quarterly index of consumer confidence -- which the government began tabulating in 1998 -- covers six categories including the outlook on household finances, job opportunities, the domestic economy and inflation. The survey also polls public investment sentiment on the bourse and fixed assets.
Reacting to the surprise cancellation, pundits say while political and economic uncertainty has jolted consumer confidence, that's no reason to cancel the free flow of information.
"[While] based on the political situation the cancelation makes sense, consumers have a right to know, and the government has a responsibility to tell the public" [the outcome of the survey ] said Taipei University economics professor Wang To-far (
Asked whether consumers were able to complete the survey rationally -- and whether politics played a role in the decision-making process -- Wang said: "While people may be overreacting [to financial issues] they are not irrational."
Instead of blaming consumers, Wang said the political community bore the responsibility for improving the economic climate. "Until the political situation can be improved, how can consumers be asked to change their behavior?"
And the public is quite clear on the depth of Taiwan's political infighting.
"Consumers are worried about the political uncertainty, [so] the government didn't want to dampen consumer confidence further" by releasing the poll results, Primasia Securities economist Irmak Surenkok said.
But contrary to DGBAS statements that non-economic factors are at play, Surenkok says tightening pocketbooks -- both internationally and domestically -- are also key factors in the consumer confidence slide.
"A lot of people are losing a lot of money in the stock market, and that has triggered the cut in consumer consumption. [Also due to] moderation in global growth, Taiwan consumer confidence will not go up any time soon," Surenkok said.
Hit hard by political uncertainty, the nation's benchmark index has shed 40 percent of its value since the new administration took over in May.
Meanwhile, Wang hinted that while the government move may delay the revelation of more bad economic news, it remains to be seen how long the information can be kept from Taiwan's media.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
RSS