The government’s business climate monitor in January flashed “green” after a 17-month hiatus, indicating steady growth, as exports, industrial output and other major economic barometers rose on improving end-market demand, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.
The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose 5 points to a 19-month high of 27, as global inventory adjustments approached an end, allowing demand for commodities to gain traction, the council said.
“Despite the positive turn, the council would maintain a cautious view,” NDC research director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) said, adding that the composite index could slip due to holiday disruptions last month.
Photo: CNA
The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with green indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. Dual colors suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition.
Downside risks linked to global inflation, monetary tightening and geopolitical tensions linger, meriting a careful attitude, Wu said.
The council last month introduced a new calculation system for the composite index, but the value, 27, was the same in both versions, meaning the recovery is concrete, she said.
Of its nine components, exports, overtime work, manufacturing sales and business confidence readings bounced or stayed in healthy territory, the council said.
The stock price index indicated a boom, while retail, wholesale and restaurant revenues flashed “yellow-red” to reflect active business ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, although the measures on imports of electrical and machinery equipment, as well as money supply, registered “yellow-blue,” leaving much room to be desired, it said.
The index of leading indicators, which aims to project economic conditions six months ahead, expanded 0.8 percent to 101.37 in January, as all seven subindices showed positive cyclical movements.
Taiwan’s economy is benefiting from surging demand for artificial intelligence investments and applications, the NDC said, adding that global pursuit of net zero carbon emissions would also support the development of renewable energy sources in Taiwan, favorable for private investment and well-paying jobs.
The leading indicators have augmented for the past four months with a cumulative rise of 2.28 percent, consistent with GDP growth of more than 3 percent for this year, Wu said.
The index of coincident indicators, which mirrors the current economic situation, grew 0.28 percent to 99.99 in January, rising for 10 consecutive months, as losses in measures on exports, electricity usage and overtime work were offset by gains in industrial output, manufacturing sales, and retail, wholesale and restaurant sales, the council said.
TECH BOOST: New TSMC wafer fabs in Arizona are to dramatically improve US advanced chip production, a report by market research firm TrendForce said With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) pouring large funds into Arizona, the US is expected to see an improvement in its status to become the second-largest maker of advanced semiconductors in 2027, Taipei-based market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report last week. TrendForce estimates the US would account for a 21 percent share in the global advanced integrated circuit (IC) production market by 2027, sharply up from the current 9 percent, as TSMC is investing US$65 billion to build three wafer fabs in Arizona, the report said. TrendForce defined the advanced chipmaking processes as the 7-nanometer process or more
Who would not want a social media audience that grows without new content? During the three years she paused production of her short do-it-yourself (DIY) farmer’s lifestyle videos, Chinese vlogger Li Ziqi (李子柒), 34, has seen her YouTube subscribers increase to 20.2 million from about 14 million. While YouTube is banned in China, her fan base there — although not the size of YouTube’s MrBeast, who has 330 million subscribers — is close to 100 million across the country’s social media platforms Douyin (抖音), Sina Weibo (新浪微博) and Xiaohongshu (小紅書). When Li finally released new videos last week — ending what has
OPEN SCIENCE: International collaboration on math and science will persevere even if the incoming Trump administration imposes strict controls, Nvidia’s CEO said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said on Saturday that global cooperation in technology would continue even if the incoming US administration imposes stricter export controls on advanced computing products. US president-elect Donald Trump, in his first term in office, imposed restrictions on the sale of US technology to China citing national security — a policy continued under US President Joe Biden. The curbs forced Nvidia, the world’s leading maker of chips used for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, to change its product lineup in China. The US chipmaking giant last week reported record-high quarterly revenue on the back of strong AI chip
Qualcomm Inc’s interest in pursuing an acquisition of Intel Corp has cooled, people familiar with the matter said, upending what would have likely been one of the largest technology deals of all time. The complexities associated with acquiring all of Intel has made a deal less attractive to Qualcomm, said some of the people, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. It is always possible Qualcomm looks at pieces of Intel instead or rekindles its interest later, they added. Representatives for Qualcomm and Intel declined to comment. Qualcomm made a preliminary approach to Intel on a possible takeover, Bloomberg News and other media
RSS