Taiwan Business Climate for Manufacturers Falls to Lowest Level in YearsBusiness climate of the manufacturing industry of Taiwan in January dropped to its lowest level since March 1996 and has been declining for six consecutive months, reported Taiwan's local media.Manufacturing firms are pessimistic towards the overall economy as compared to January last year, but predicted a better situation for the second half of 2001, the Taiwan media quoted a report of Taiwan Institute of Economic Research as saying. The report shows that the manufacturing composite index declined to 87.93 percent in January, because the local economy was affected by the slowdown in the global economy and a decrease in demand from abroad for manufactured products. The report also cited unemployment and shrinking private consumption as affecting growth. The new Taiwan dollar is expected to depreciate slightly in the short term under the influence of the depreciation of Japanese yen and crisis in the Middle East. According to a survey by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, manufacturing firms that perceived business in January as "good" went down to 7 percent from December's 14.5 percent, while a "fair" rating of business increased from 36.3 percent to 37.1 percent. |
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