Taiwan central bank raises GDP forecast

Taipei

TAIWAN'S central bank revised up the island's 2021 growth outlook on Thursday (Dec 16) as strong exports bolstered its trade-reliant economy that has boomed on technology demand, and said it would likely tighten policy next year by raising rates.

Companies in Taiwan, home to major chip firms like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), have benefited from laptop and tablet demand to support the work-and-study-from-home trend during the pandemic, as well as a global shortage of microchips.

The central bank raised its 2021 estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 6.03 per cent from a 5.75 per cent forecast in September, and kept the benchmark discount rate at a record low of 1.125 per cent, as expected by all 25 economists in a Reuters poll.

Bank governor Yang Chin-long told reporters the economy was not overheating, inflation was in a controllable range and that they were paying attention to rate rise decisions by major economies.

The rate cut last year was to help Taiwan's smaller firms, and their progress would help signal the future rate direction, he added, saying that it theoretically could go back to where it was before being cut in March of last year at 1.375 per cent.

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Asked about the likelihood of a rate hike next year, he said "there is a possibility". The bank "definitely will be heading towards the direction of tightening", he added.

Taiwan's decision to hold fire on rates comes after the US Federal Reserve said it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March and pave the way for 3 quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022.

Taiwan was one of the few Asian economies to grow in pandemic-hit 2020, expanding 3.11 per cent that year - faster than China - after 2.71 per cent growth in 2019.

GDP expanded in the third quarter of 2021 by 3.7 per cent versus the year ago period, down from 7.43 per cent in the second quarter, but policymakers have predicted 6 per cent or more growth for the full year because of the export surge.

For 2022, the bank said it saw GDP expanding 4.03 per cent, compared to a previous prediction of 3.45 per cent. It has kept its policy rate unchanged at every quarterly meeting since cutting it in March 2020. REUTERS