Taiwanese GDP growth boosted by exports to China

02-23-2010 12:33

The Taiwanese economy expanded on a yearly basis by 18% in the last quarter of 2009, boosted by demand for highly advanced technological products from Continental China. The economic expansion came above expectations, while the third quarter of 2009 showed a 8.25% growth.

Thailand’s economy

Thailand’s economy, which found its path out of recession, expanded strongly in the last three months of 2009, growing on a yearly basis by 5.8%.
Thailand’s expansion was also driven by improved exports to mainland China, according to analysts.
The Chinese economy, which is due to take over Japan’s position as the second largest economy on the globe, expanded by 10.9% in the last quarter of 2009.

Taiwan’s economic expansion

Taiwan’s economic expansion is gauged on an annual basis, which demonstrates what the rate would be on a yearly basis if the latest change sustained for a complete year.
The economy grew by 9.2% when utilizing an alternative gauge, weighing the last three months of 2009 against the last quarter of 2008.

Export expansion

The Taiwanese central bank will not increase interest levels from the current 1.25% rate, according to analysts’ expectations. The rates may be raised later this year when there are more evidences of the durability of the economic improvement in the United States.
“Taiwan depends on export expansion, while American and European demand is rather weak. If we look at the history, the government should act cautiously,” Hsu Kuo-an, economist at Capital, agreed that this was the best growth strategy.

Political problems

Thailand posted the fastest economic expansion on a quarterly basis in a decade, and twice as much as analysts’ forecasts.
Pressure will grow to raise interest rates from the current 1.25% rate in the second quarter, according to Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Forecast in Singapore.
Nevertheless, Varathan warned that ongoing political problems in Thailand makes forecasts more difficult.

Bank of Thailand

Later this week, a court will decide if the assets of Thaksin Shinawatra, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, were unlawfully obtained and should be forfeited.
This year will be dominated by restoring normal interest levels, according to Tarisa Watanagase, governor of Thailand’s central bank; Bank of Thailand. The situation remains hard to predict as a result of the political problems, Watanagase added.