The government’s business climate monitor last month remained “yellow-red,” as imports of machinery equipment and manufacturing sales slackened somewhat, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.
The overall score of all constituent readings shed two points to 34, showing that the nation’s economy remains vibrant, although the pace of growth lost some momentum, NDC research director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) said.
The council uses a five-color system to depict the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” signaling a recession. Dual colors indicate a shift to a stronger or weaker state.
Photo: CNA
“I am confident that Taiwan’s GDP growth should exceed 4 percent this year in light of robust exports, industrial production and manufacturing sales,” Wu told a media briefing.
“Green” and higher signals on the system suggest robust economic conditions, aided by active private investment, Wu said.
The official attributed the mild slowdown to uncertainty over regional geopolitical tensions, and soaring international energy and raw material prices, which are casting a shadow on the global economic landscape.
Worsening inflation has led global research bodies to trim their GDP growth forecasts for the US and Europe, Wu said, adding that rising crude oil prices would increase production costs, constrain corporate profits and affect the economy in Taiwan.
The index of leading indicators, which aims to portray the economic situation in the coming six months, shrank 0.64 percent from a month earlier to 100.65, as all seven constituents fell, the council said.
Wu said the trend is not a sign of economic downturn, but agreed that a slowdown is occurring, which she said needs to be closely monitored.
The council expects to pay particular attention to whether the war between Russia and Ukraine dampens Taiwan’s export orders, she said.
Commentators have downgraded the target prices of technology shares on concern that higher inflation could deter people from buying consumer electronics products.
The war’s effects could become more evident soon, beyond ongoing financial market swings and energy price hikes, Wu said.
The index of coincident indicators, which reflects the current economic state, expanded 0.32 percent to 102.99, as the indices for employment, industrial output and exports, as well as wholesale, retail and restaurant revenues picked up, the council said.
However, manufacturing sales and power consumption as well as imports of electrical and machinery equipment showed negative cyclical movements, it said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
AI-FUELED DEMAND: The company has been benefiting from the skyrocketing prices for DRAM chips amid the AI frenzy, especially its core product — DDR4 DRAM chips DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday reported that its revenue for the first quarter surged 582.91 percent to NT$49.09 billion (US$1.54 billion) from NT$7.19 billion a year earlier, as the supply crunch caused chip price spikes. Last quarter’s figure is the highest on record. On a quarterly basis, revenue jumped 63.14 percent from NT$30.09 billion, the company said. In January, Nanya Technology expected global DRAM supply scarcity to continue through the first half of 2028, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) forecast prices of standard DRAM chips would rise between 58 percent and 63
RSS