News

CIER cuts Taiwan 2019 GDP growth forecast to 2.15 percent
 

2019/04/17 16:17:53

Taipei, April 17 (CNA) The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) on Wednesday trimmed its forecast for Taiwan's economic growth rate for 2019 to 2.15 percent, down from 2.18 percent in December.

As with most other countries, Taiwan's economy has slowed down since the middle of 2018, and it is expected to grow at a rate of less than 2 percent in the first half of this year.

The downward revision came because the slowdown was more pronounced than expected due to the ongoing trade disputes between the United States and China and the U.S. and Europe and fluctuations in raw materials prices, the CIER said.

But Taiwan's economy is expected to climb from its doldrums in the second half of the year, CIER President Chen Shi-kuan (陳思寬) said, because of a reduction in trade friction between the United States and China and an improving Chinese economy.

Taiwan's economy will also gain momentum from an increase in domestic demand driven by the government's tax cuts and a travel subsidy program and grow from quarter to quarter at a rate of above 2 percent for the six-month period, the think tank forecast.

It predicted that the pace of growth would continue to pick up in 2020 and result in 2.42 percent growth for the year.

(By Pan Tzi-yu and Flor Wang)

Link, http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201904170011.aspx

Ufficio di Rappresentanza di Taipei - Viale Liegi n.17, 00198 Roma | Tel. 06-98262800 - P. Iva 97076980586