2018.07.3108:05:00UTC+00Taiwan GDP Growth Improves In Q2

Taiwan's economic growth strengthened in the second quarter after slowing in the previous three months, preliminary data from the statistical office showed Tuesday.

Gross domestic product rose 3.29 percent year-on-year after 3.02 percent increase in the first quarter. Economists had forecast growth of 2.9 percent.

"With external headwinds increasing, we expect the economy to soften over the second half of the year and into 2019," Capital Economics economist Chang Liu said.

ING Bank economist Iris Pang said, "The surprising growth does not imply a strong economy in fact, quite the opposite".

The economist expects export-related manufacturing activities to slow if the the trade war between the US and China continues to escalate.

"This time, Taiwan will have fewer measures to help itself from falling," she added.

Growth was driven by exports, which rose 5.99 percent, albeit slower than the 6.69 percent gain in the previous quarter.

Domestic demand grew 1.95 percent with household consumption rising 2.65 percent. Government spending remained robust at 5.85 percent.

Meanwhile, gross fixed capital formation continued to decrease, down 2.35 percent.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualized basis, GDP grew 3.08 percent in the second quarter after a 0.79 percent gain in the first quarter.