Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/02/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 2 (CNA) The local manufacturing sector continued to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with an index gauging the health of the sector flashing a "yellow-blue" in March, signaling sluggish growth, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER).

Data compiled by TIER showed the composite index for the manufacturing sector in March fell 1.73 points from a month earlier to 11.03, with the yellow-blue light category ranging from 10.5 to 13.

TIER, one of Taiwan's leading think tanks, uses a five-color system to describe economic activity, with red indicating overheating, yellow-red showing fast growth, green representing stable growth, yellow-blue signaling sluggish growth and blue reflecting contraction.

The think tank said the worldwide spread of the virus has weakened global demand and caused international crude oil prices to plunge, so major old economy industries such as petrochemicals, rubber, base metals and machinery makers generally flashed a blue light in March.    [FULL  STORY]