Consumer confidence slipped this month, ending three months of rebounds, as interest rate and electricity price increases muted the benefits of tax rebates, a survey by National Central University showed yesterday.
The consumer confidence index posted 63.18, down 1.29 points, as inflationary pressure gained traction after the government raised electricity rates this month and the central bank hiked interest rates for the fifth consecutive meeting last month.
That prompted food vendors to raise prices to ease cost burdens, said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development, which conducted the survey.
Photo: CNA
The interest rate hike increased the cost of borrowing for companies, causing more caution about spending, while sales remain tepid, stretching inventory adjustments and tethering earnings momentum, Wu said.
The price trend countered benefits from a tax rebate of NT$6,000 for eligible individuals, driving the sub-index on consumer prices down by 3.7 points to 26.85, Wu said, adding that the tax rebate helped stimulate private consumption, the main growth driver this year.
People feel less positive about the job market and household incomes, as the sub-indices shed 2.1 points and 1.8 points to 63.9 and 74 respectively, the university’s monthly survey showed.
Public confidence about the economy lost 1.45 points to 79.3, while stock investment interest gained 2 points to 26.7, but remained at a very low level, it said.
Confidence scores of 100 and higher indicate optimism, and values lower than that suggest pessimism.
Wu said he is not surprised about the findings, as exports tumbled by double-digit percentage points in the first quarter of this year and they might not recover until the fourth quarter.
Interest rate hikes by major central banks have curtailed demand for technology products, for which local firms supply critical components, he said.
The gauge on purchases of durable goods, noticeably real estate, held firm by shrinking 0.65 points to 108.35, the survey showed.
The survey polled 2,942 adults by telephone from Tuesday to Friday last week, and had a 2 percent margin of error.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
SENSOR BUSINESS: The Taiwanese company said that a public tender offer would begin on May 7 through its wholly owned subsidiary Yageo Electronics Japan Yageo Corp (國巨), one of the world’s top three suppliers of passive components, yesterday said it is to launch a tender offer to fully acquire Japan’s Shibaura Electronics Co for up to ￥65.57 billion (US$429.37 million), with an aim to expand its sensor business. The tender offer would be a crucial step for the company to expand its sensor business, Yageo said. Shibaura Electronics is the world’s largest supplier of thermistors, with a market share of 13 percent, research conducted in 2022 by the Japanese firm showed. If a deal goes ahead, it would be the second acquisition of a sensor business since
RSS