SEMICONDUCTORS: TIER president Chang Chien-yi said that aggressive equipment acquisitions show local companies are upbeat about business in the second half
Taipei Times
Date: Apr 26, 2019
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday kept its forecast for the nation’s GDP growth this year unchanged at 2.12 percent, with exports weakening, but the possibility that private investment might be stronger than expected.
Exports were soft with a 4.2 percent contraction in the first quarter, reflecting a slowdown in global trade flows, TIER president Chang Chien-yi (張建一) said.
However, the Taipei-based think tank left its forecast intact on expectations that the recovery of private investment would accelerate in light of capital equipment purchases by local semiconductor firms, Chang said.
Imports of capital equipment, a critical gauge of corporate expansion or upgrade needs, jumped 15.4 percent in the January-to-March period, with semiconductor equipment surging 41.2 percent, Ministry of Finance data showed. [FULL STORY]