TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is likely to expand by 5.16% this year as exports keep booming and the domestic sector recovers, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said Tuesday (July 20).
In April, the think tank forecast growth of 4.8% for 2021, CNA reported. Ever since last year, the country’s economy had been on the path to recovery, even though domestic consumption took some knocks as the COVID-19 alert was raised to Level 3 in mid-May.
Nevertheless, exports fueled by the global recovery remained vibrant, while electronics giants invested in new production units inside the country, the CIER said. As a result, the economy could be described as “hot outside, heating up inside,” according to the think tank report.
The forecasters also warned that the picture could change if after the likely end of the Level 3 alert next week, there were new COVID outbreaks. In the event of new restrictive measures being necessary, the forecast of 5.16% might have to be revised downward to 4.63%, with the expected growth of 1.25% for domestic consumption disappearing completely.
Turning to inflation, the CIER report predicted the Consumer Price Index (CPI) would grow by 1.72% in 2021, a marked change from the decline of 0.24% registered in 2020.