DOLDRUMS:There is still time before the nation approaches its debt ceiling and the government could raise the limit to boost infrastructure and push up GDP, TIER said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 26, 20160
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday cut its GDP growth forecast for this year from April’s 1.27 percent to 0.77 percent, as exports and private consumption have been softer than it expected.

It is the third time the Taipei-based think tank has revised down its growth forecast as uncertainty deepens over the global economic outlook after the UK last month voted to leave the EU.

“The government should take a more active role in boosting the economy, as monetary policy has its limits in achieving the goal,” TIER Economic Forecasting Center director Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news briefing in Taipei.

The central bank has implemented monetary easing, cutting interest rates four times by 12.5 basis points since September last year to support economic growth.     [FULL  STORY]