Taiwan manufacturer sentiment rise on stimulus

In the survey, 27.3 percent of manufacturers in January expressed their optimism for the economy over the next six-month period, an increase from December's 11.6 percent.

The numbers also showed 36.7 percent saying the economy will be the same over the next half-year, a decrease from December's 40.9 percent. At the same time, 36.1 percent believed the economy will be worse within the next six months, a decrease from December's 47.4 percent.

“Our numbers suggest a change in the attitude of manufacturers,” said Chen Miao, director of the center of forecasting under TIER.

He attributed the increased optimism to a number of factors.

“The government's stimulus plans certainly had a positive effect on the manufacturers, and they believed the economy would improve as a result of these measures, including an increase in government spending on public infrastructure projects, as well as the government's issuance of consumer vouchers,” he said. “At the same time, demand is still pretty strong in emerging markets, and manufacturers believe that their products, especially electronic machineries, will see increased shipments in the quarters to come.”

The Legislative Yuan last year passed legislation authorizing the government to hand out consumer vouchers to all citizens of the Republic of China to boost domestic spending, amid the downturn.

The latest figures by the Cabinet's statistics bureau suggest this year's GDP will contract by 2.97 percent, mostly due to a large decline in exports.

The government on Jan. 18 handed out the first batch of consumer vouchers, worth NT$3,600. Those who didn't get the vouchers can now get them at post offices island-wide until Apr. 30. Consumers must use up all vouchers by Sept. 30.

The vouchers come in six NT$500 coupons and three NT$200 coupons.

In the same survey, manufacturers believing that they would do better in January than December increased by 4.6 percent, while those thinking they would do worse declined by 21.7 percent.

These figures translated into a manufacturers' outlook index and retailers' outlook index of 80.31 and 90.68 for January, respectively, higher than December's 75.72 and 86.35, TIER said.

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