AFP, Taipei :
Taiwan’s economy is looking at another gloomy year ahead as the government on Wednesday cut growth forecasts in the face of subdued international demand for exports.
The growth prediction for 2016 has been slashed from 2.32 percent to 1.47 percent after a worse-than-expected 2015 saw the island sink into recession at the end of the year.
“This year’s global economic growth rate will be slightly higher than last year’s, but growth momentum will remain slow as in recent years,” the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a statement.
The pessimistic forecast comes the day after Taiwan’s finance ministry said shipments for January had slumped 13 percent year-on-year in the longest consecutive period of decline since 2009.
Among the hardest-hit areas is electronics — the biggest category of exports for Taiwan, traditionally a technology manufacturing hub. A number of leading Taiwanese firms such as Foxconn and TSMC are among Apple’s suppliers.
Last year saw Taiwan’s shipments fall by a tenth compared to the previous year. Exports in 2016 are expected to contract another 2.78 percent, the statistics bureau said Wednesday, as rising homegrown tech brands and hardware manufacturers in China put pressure on Taiwan’s industries.
