Slowdown continues in Taiwan

The National Development Council (NDC) said Taiwan's business climate continued in a slowdown last month based on major economic barometers. The overall score gained 1 point to 18, as imports of electrical and machinery equipment displayed positive movements, the council said, adding that whether the rise would continue this month is uncertain. The NDC said the economic headwinds abroad have contributed much to the slowdown mode. The index of leading indicators, which aims to predict the economic situation in the coming six months, weakened 0.97% to 95.63, as all sub-indices registered negative cyclical movements except for the reading on imports of semiconductor equipment, the council said. Taiwan is home to the world’s largest contract chipmakers, supplying 60% of advanced chips used in high-performance computing, flagship smartphones and data centres.