The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics April 29 raised its forecast for Taiwan’s 2011 economic growth to 5.04 percent, with a record high per capita gross domestic product of US$20,848.
The latest DGBAS prediction is up 0.12 percentage points from its February estimate of 4.92 percent.
The Cabinet-level agency said Taiwan’s economic momentum comes on the back of robust overseas demand for electronics, information and communication products, and plastic and chemical commodities, as well as heated private consumption in the retail and catering sectors.
The DGBAS also revised its projection for economic growth in the first quarter from 5.01 percent to 6.19 percent, up 13.44 percent from a year earlier.
Officials cautioned against overly high expectations, however. “We are not likely to see exponential economic growth from now on, as the global economy has slowed down,” Hu Chung-ying, deputy minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, said.
The global economy has returned to self-sustaining progress, but is still threatened by soaring oil prices and natural disasters, according to the agency.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s consumer price index for 2011 will be 2.18 percent, higher than the 2 percent estimate given in February, the DGBAS said.
In related news, March saw the female labor participation rate climb to 49.6 percent, up 3.9 percentage points from 10 years ago, signifying the integration of women in mainstream employment, according to the DGBAS. (THN)
Write to Aaron Hsu at pj1210meister@mail.gio.gov.tw