Taiwan Business Indicators in February 2009
Press Release
Council for Economic Planning and Development
March 27, 2009
In February 2009, Taiwan’s business cyclical indicators showed a continuous slowdown in economic conditions. 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 increased 1.8 point, the trend-adjusted coincident index decreased 3.7% from the previous month and the overall monitoring indicator flashed the "blue" signal for the sixth consecutive month.
1. Leading Indicators: The composite leading index stood at 84.8, down by 0.5% from January 2009. Its annualized six-month rate of change rose modestly by 1.8 point to -22.5%, following fifteenth consecutive monthly declines. The increasing leading index mainly came from the positive cyclical movements in index of producer’s inventory, monetary aggregates M1B* and SEMI book-to-bill ratio.
(Note: components marked with an asterisk indicate real terms)
2. Coincident Indicators: The coincident index stood at 76.1, down by 3.6% from January. Its trend-adjusted index decreased by 3.7% to 73.5, with sliding for the twelfth consecutive month. The decreasing coincident index largely came from the negative cyclical movements in electric power consumption, real customs-cleared exports* and nonagricultural employment. However, the sales index of wholesale, retail, and food services, industrial production index increased slightly.
3. The Monitoring Indicators: The total score in February increased 1 point to 10, flashing the signal of "blue" for the sixth consecutive month. Among the nine components, money supply M1B gained one point and changed the light signal from " blue" to "yellow-blue". The light signals for the rest of eight components remained unchanged.
T~~ The next release is scheduled for April 27, 2009 ~~T