Taiwan’s growth momentum remains positive, but ANZ trims GDP outlook

TAIPEI - Taiwan’s export growth rose 6.2% y/y in April, compared with 2.0% in March, and beat market expectations of 5.5%. Electronics remained the key driver for exports as the shipments increased 14.7% y/y. Chemical and plastic products also saw strong growth of 11.9% and 9.3% respectively. The widened trade balance was also consistent with the currency strength we observed last month.

ANZ Bank says the trade data signals that a global recovery is firmly under way. “We also observe that exports to Mainland China and Hong Kong turned positive and grew 5.0%, compared with a contraction of 0.3% in March, indicating a possible rebound of the Chinese economy,” ANZ says. “In addition, shipments to Europe surged 13.1% and exports to the US maintained 6.9% growth.
“Today’s data reinforce our belief on the positive external outlook facing Taiwan. However, the domestic economy continues to lag behind and the unstable political environment ahead of the ‘7-in-1’ election may also dampen the appetite of business investment. Given the changing domestic growth profile, we have lowered our 2014 GDP forecast for 2014 to 3.1% from our previous projection of 3.6%.” www.live.anz.com (ATI).