Taiwan Business Indicators in May 2009
Press Release
Council for Economic Planning and Development
June 26, 2009
In May 2009, although Taiwan’s economic activity still showed a slowdown, the pace of deterioration markedly had been moderating. Among the indicators compiled by the Cabinet’s Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), the annualized six-month rate of change of leading index rose 7.8 points, the trend-adjusted coincident index also rose by 2.8% from the previous month, and the overall monitoring indicator flashed the "blue" signal for the ninth consecutive month.
1. Leading Indicators: The composite leading index stood at 94.9, up by 3.3% from April. Its annualized six-month rate of change rose by 7.8 points to 3.5%, following sixteen consecutive monthly negative values. The increasing leading index mainly came from the positive cyclical movements in average monthly overtime in industry and services, the index of export orders, SEMI book-to-bill ratio, and stock price index.
2. Coincident Indicators: With revised data, the coincident index stood at 87.4, up by 2.7% from April. Its trend-adjusted index rose by 2.8% to 86.2. The increasing coincident index largely came from the positive cyclical movements in industrial production index, real manufacturing sales*, electronic power consumption, and the sales index of wholesale, retail, and food services.
(Note: components marked with an asterisk indicate real terms)
3. The Monitoring Indicators: The total score in May increased 1 point to 12, flashing the signal of "blue" for the ninth consecutive month. Among the nine components, money supply M1B gained one point and changed its individual light signal from "green" to "yellow-red". The light signals for the rest of eight components remained unchanged.
~~ The next release is scheduled for July 27, 2009 ~~