GLOBALIZATION BITES: Taiwan has avoided strict isolation measures, but lockdowns in other nations have reduced trade and people flows, while confidence has also fallen

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 18, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) yesterday lowered its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year to 1.03 percent, less than half of its previous projection of 2.34 percent, as the COVID-19 pandemic is hurting exports and consumer spending.

The Taipei-based institute lent support to the government’s belief that Taiwan would manage to grow GDP for the whole of the year, although Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P) expects the nation to see a 1.2 percent contraction.

“Economic activity is chilling on both domestic and external fronts due to global lockdowns to contain the pandemic,” CIER president Chen Shi-kuan (陳思寬) said.

A mild spread — with 395 confirmed cases so far — has enabled Taiwan to avoid instituting strict isolation measures to fight the novel coronavirus, which has brought economies in Europe, the US and other countries to a virtual standstill.    [FULL  STORY]