MANUFACTURERS KEY:The DGBAS said that the nation’s economy relies on the sector, which accounted for 55 percent of the 3.46 percent GDP growth last quarter

Taipei Times
Date: May 05, 2015
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The official purchasing managers ‘index (PMI) last month remained in expansion mode, but the pace slowed from a month earlier, as demand from abroad eased in line with the low technology cycle, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.

The PMI reading, which aims to gauge the health of the manufacturing industry, dropped to 54.7 last month, down 4.4 percentage points from 59.1 in March, suggesting the industry stayed on the course of expansion, but lost some steam in growth momentum, CIER president Wu Chung-shu (吳中書) told a news conference.

However, HSBC Holdings PLC held a more conservative view after its Taiwan Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 last month, the first contraction since August 2013, as operating conditions deteriorated.     [FULL  STORY]