BEATING FORECASTS: In the first three quarters, Taiwan beat its regional peers, including South Korea and Singapore, with GDP growth averaging 2.4 percent

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 04, 2019
By: Chen Cheng-hui  /  Staff reporter

DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has revised upward its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 2.3 percent, from 1.9 percent earlier this year, as the economy stands to benefit from the “trade diversion and investment repatriation effects” of the trade tensions between the US and China, as well as a recovery in the electronics sector.

The Singaporean bank also adjusted its economic growth forecast for Taiwan next year to 2 percent, up from 1.8 percent previously, a report released on Friday showed.

The bank’s GDP forecast came after Taiwan’s economy grew 2.91 percent annually in the third quarter, its strongest growth in five quarters, as exports regained traction from transferred orders, and rising domestic consumption and investment also lent support, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics reported on Thursday.

Third-quarter GDP expanded more than the 2.41 percent growth seen in the second quarter and beat its forecast of about 2.5 percent, DBS said.    [FULL  STORY]