TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s economy will find it hard to grow more than 4% during the third quarter, despite government forecasts of 4.71%, the Taiwan Research Institute (TRI) said Wednesday (Sept. 21).
The think tank cut its prediction for the month of July to 3.6% from 3.7%, though it added the economy was still on the right path to recovery. However, the year-on-year growth figures were also influenced by a low comparison base as July 2021 came at the tail end of one of the most serious phases of the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan, the TRI said.
Reasons for lower-than-expected growth during the third quarter were continued global inflation, interest rate hikes, and weakening demand for products in the manufacturing sector, the Liberty Times reported.
The TRI also considered a 2.02% drop in electricity consumption by the sector in August as a factor in its predictions of lower growth.
The government’s Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) cut its forecast for this year’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to 3.76% from the 3.91% it predicted in May. The DGBAS also saw the economy slowing down further into 2023, with annual GDP for next year likely to stand at 3.05%.