The government’s business climate monitor last month flashed “green,” as the economy emerged from five months of slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Development Council said yesterday.
Almost all component measures registered positive cyclical movements except for the nonfarm payroll, which remained sluggish, council research director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) told a news conference in Taipei.
“The latest data suggest the economy finally resumed stable growth after the pace of uptick grew increasingly evident,” Wu said.
The total score gained 5 points to 26, catapulting the monitor to the growth zone of 23 to 31.
The council uses a five-color system to portray the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting overheating and “blue” signaling a recession. Dual colors mean it is in transition.
The council is to continue closely monitoring the economy at home and abroad to see if the growth is sustainable or just an isolated episode, Wu said.
The worst is over, but uncertainty warrants continued caution, Council Deputy Minister Cheng Cheng-mount (鄭貞茂) said.
Many are concerned about a potential resurgence of COVID-19 infections in the fall and winter, Cheng said, adding that the US presidential election and US-China trade dispute could shake up the economy.
The index of leading indicators, used to gauge the economic outlook in the coming six months, rose 1.72 percent to 104.67, bolstered by better export orders, manufacturing sentiment, labor accession rates and new construction floor space, the council said.
The sub-index on semiconductor equipment imports was the only measure that posted negative cyclical movement from one month earlier, it said.
Altogether, the leading indicators’ series have picked up for the past five months, which is a positive sign, Wu said.
The index of coincident indicators, which reflects the current economic situation, edged up 0.71 percent for the third consecutive month to 100.77, the council said.
Exports, industrial output and power consumption, as well as wholesale, retail and restaurant revenues, showed improvement, but employment and machinery equipment imports lost some traction, it said.
Although the coincident indicators’ series climbed 1.55 percent for three months in a row, the magnitude of increase was not strong enough to suggest a concrete recovery, Wu said.
It is more urgent that local firms upgrade and adapt to new business models in the post-pandemic era so that economic activity can recover better momentum, Cheng said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
RSS