Taiwan’s economy will grow by 0.89% this year. That’s the latest forecast from the Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute. On Wednesday, the institute became the fourth think tank to predict growth of less than 1% for the year.
The institute predicts that next year will see economic growth of 1.93%. That makes the institute the second think tank to predict that next year’s economic growth will not hit 2%.
Institute chairman Liang Kuo-yuan says that many people seem to be waiting for someone or some strategy to save the economy.
"Discussion of policies might have to wait until a new leader comes into office before it will be more clear," said Liang. "With this situation, everyone is waiting, so now we are just guarding the economy."
Liang said there are many risk factors that may affect the economy next year. These include a rise of the bad debt rate in China, a raising of interest rates by the Fed in the US, and an unexpectedly large fluctuation in oil prices. He said that these factors could all lead to a financial crisis.