Economic outlook remains weak in Taiwan

Taiwan's business indicators dropped slightly in July, evidence that the global economic slowdown was taking its toll on the island's economy, authorities said Monday. Both the index of leading economic indicators and the coincident index, used to gauge the current economic situation and the economic outlook for the near future, dropped slightly in July, the island's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said. The CEPD is in charge of the planning, drafting, reviewing, coordinating and examining policies for economic development. It said that Taiwan's labor market showed signs of stability in July, but areas such as financial markets, manufacturing, trade and consumption performed poorly. The growth of exports remained weak despite the fact that stock markets of major economies stabilized in August. CEPD attributed the sluggish growth to the continuing eurozone sovereign debt crisis and the cooling economies of the United States and the Chinese mainland. Meanwhile, given to uncertainties about the global economy, businesses took a conservative approach and held off major investments. Although revenues in catering and retailing sectors rose steadily, the consumers real wage did not, which hurt private consumption. The council urged the authorities to adopt measures to shore up the economic recovery, warning that the island's economic outlook was still weak. According to figures released last week, Taiwan's export orders fell for the fifth consecutive month in July, as the global economic slowdown continued to weigh on the island's economy. On Aug. 17, the island's authorities cut their economic growth forecast for the year to 1.66 percent from a previous estimate of 2.08 percent.