Economics Minister Shen Jong-chin says that Taiwan’s GDP growth for the first quarter of this year is projected to reach 1.8%. Shen was speaking during an interview on Thursday.
Shen said this forecast is almost the same as the 1.7% predicted by foreign media outlets. Foreign media outlets also predict that Taiwan will register 1% growth for the whole year, outperforming Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea, the other three so-called “Asian Tigers”.
The IMF has put out its own, much more grim prediction of -4% growth.
But Shen was upbeat about the prospects for this year’s economic performance. He said that while restrictions such as social distancing have driven down consumption, the manufacturing sector is continuing to run as usual. Meanwhile, he said that the government’s COVID-19 relief stimulus package will also contribute to GDP growth.
Shen said that other factors helping to boost the economy include investment from Taiwanese businesspeople moving back from China, rising orders in the wake of the US-China trade war, and large-scale investment in the semiconductor industry.