TAIPEI- Taiwan’s trade-reliant economy is expected to have expanded at a slightly faster pace in the fourth quarter supported by strong tech exports though unable to match the burning pace of earlier in the year, a Reuters poll showed.
Gross domestic product (GDP) likely grew 3.8 percent in October-December versus a year earlier, the poll of 25 economists shows, after it rose 3.7 percent year-on-year in the third quarter.
But that would still lag the 7.43 percent growth in the second quarter and 8.92 percent in the first quarter.
Policymakers have said they expect full-year 2021 growth to slightly exceed 6 percent, which would be the fastest pace in over a decade, since a 10.25 percent expansion in 2010.
Economists’ forecasts for preliminary GDP data due on Thursday varied widely from growth of 2.7 percent to as high as 4.9 percent.
Taiwan’s exports rose for an 18th straight month in December, though at a slightly lower rate than forecasts, boosted by continued strong tech demand and amid a global shortage of computer chips.
As a key hub in the global technology supply chain for giants such as Apple Inc, Taiwan’s economy has outperformed many of its regional peers during the COVID-19 pandemic as it benefited from robust demand for its tech exports during the work-and-study-from-home trend.
But domestic consumption was hit by a rare rise in community COVID-19 transmissions starting mid-May and imposition of strict restrictions on gatherings and other curbs.
While that outbreak has now ended, the government is on alert for a smattering of local Omicron variant infections that began earlier in January, though curbs on people’s activities have been limited so far. — Reuters
