December economic activity dips in Taiwan

2015-01-29

Taiwan’s overall economic monitoring indicator flashed yellow-blue in December, indicating that the economy has shifted down to a relatively modest growth track, according to the National Development Council Jan. 27.

“Although the latest result ends a 10-month green streak, Taiwan’s fundamentals remain sound amid increasing concerns over the global economy,” an NDC official said.

Among the indicator’s nine components, manufacturing gained one point, turning from yellow-blue to green. Customs-cleared exports and producers’ shipments for manufacturing both lost a point and changed from green to yellow-blue, while imports of machinery and equipment dropped two points and switched from yellow-red to yellow-blue.

Indicators for industrial output, monetary aggregates M1B and TAIEX average closing price continued green. The nonagricultural employment and sales of trade and food services remained yellow-blue for the 22nd and eighth month in a row, respectively.

The NDC uses five colors to measure domestic economic health: red indicates serious overheating; yellow-red, slight overheating; green, steady growth; yellow-blue, slowdown; and blue, recession.

Although the composite score for the monitoring indicator slipped three points to 22, it remained in the stable zone. And while the leading indicator continued a downward trend, this was limited and offset by the steadily rising coincident indicator, which has risen for 17 consecutive months.

The official said the NDC is cautiously optimistic about Taiwan’s economic outlook on the strength of a rosy projection for global conditions this year and ongoing investment by the local semiconductor sector.

“An improving job market and weak oil prices may also boost consumer spending and inject new momentum into Taiwan’s economy,” the official added.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=226902&CtNode=413)