A local think tank has revised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth in 2015 down to 3.04% due to the lackluster performance of the world’s leading economies.
The Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) released its new forecast in a report Thursday. The CIER said the downward revision of 0.52 percentage points from its earlier forecast of 3.56% is the lowest level of GDP growth predicted by think tanks so far.
But while a sluggish economy has affected consumer spending, imports and exports and hurt consumer confidence, the CIER said Taiwan’s GDP growth will be able to stay above 3% because of the rebound of the local stock market and China’s 7.0% GDP expansion in the second quarter.
The report was echoed by the National Development Council (NDC). A NDC official, Wu Ming-hui, attributed the weak economy to the Greek debt crisis, falling oil prices and an economic slowdown in the U.S.
However, she said that because orders for new electronic products are likely to increase in the second half of this year, there will be a growing demand for intermediate goods, which, in turn, will boost Taiwan’s exports.