Taiwan Business Indicators in April 2009
Press Release
Council for Economic Planning and Development
May 27, 2009
In April 2009, although Taiwan’s business cyclical indicators still showed a slowdown in economic conditions, the pace of decline in most components markedly moderated. 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 6.6 point, the trend-adjusted coincident index also rose by 3.6% from the previous month, and the overall monitoring indicator flashed the "blue" signal for the eighth consecutive month.
1. Leading Indicators: The composite leading index stood at 92.2, up by 2.6% from March. Its annualized six-month rate of change rose by 6.6 point to -5.3%. The increasing leading index mainly came from the positive cyclical movements in the index of export orders, SEMI book-to-bill ratio, real monetary aggregates M1B*, and stock price index.
(Note: components marked with an asterisk indicate real terms)
2. Coincident Indicators: With revised data, the coincident index stood at 87.5, up by 3.7% from March. Its trend-adjusted index rose by 3.6% to 85.6. The increasing coincident index largely came from the positive cyclical movements in industrial production index, electronic power consumption, real manufacturing sales*, and the sales index of wholesale, retail, and food services.
3. The Monitoring Indicators: The total score in April increased 1 point to 11, flashing the signal of "blue" for the eighth consecutive month. Among the nine components, money supply M1B gained one point and changed its individual light signal from "yellow-blue" to "green". The light signals for the rest of eight components remained unchanged.
~~ The next release is scheduled for June 26, 2009 ~~