FLAGGING CONFIDENCE:A separate survey showed consumer confidence falling further this month, mainly affected by the TAIEX’s decline amid a global stock rout

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 28, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The government’s business climate monitor flashed “blue” for the seventh consecutive month last month, indicating that the economy has yet to come out of the woods, despite earlier projections that things will improve this year, the National Development Council said yesterday.

The council now expects the nation’s export-reliant economy to bottom out this quarter, but global uncertainty lingers.

The total score for the monitoring system stood at 14 last month, one point lower than in November, the council’s report said. Except for ample liquidity, all bellwethers registered negative cyclical movements, the report said.

“The semiconductor industry’s inventory correction has showed signs of stabilization, suggesting that electronics exports may gradually regain growth dynamism going forward,” council researcher Wu Ming-hui (吳明蕙) said.    [FULL  STORY]