Taiwan’s top research body, the Academia Sinica, forecasts that Taiwan’s GDP growth in 2015 will be 3.38%.
It predicts the economy is likely to grow moderately next year though it will be curbed by other factors. These include the expected interest rate rise in the United States, China’s weakening demand, Japan’s quantitative easing monetary policy and deflation in Europe.
Academia Sinica economist Ray Chou said the forecast for next year’s GDP growth is slightly lower than this year, which is expected to reach 3.42%.
“Our prediction stands at 3.38% because [domestic] consumption will continue to improve and the [amount] of investment will steadily increase,” said Chou.
The Academia Sinica also said the United States will be the engine of global economic growth in 2015. The global trade volume is expected to increase by 5.0% due to falling prices of raw materials and the strong US dollar.