In April 2006, Taiwan's business indicators displayed mostly rises of the economy. Among the indicators compiled by the Cabinet's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), the leading index and the coincident index decreased 1.0% and 0.8%, respectively, from the previous month. The monitoring indicators flashed “yellow-blue” in April, the first time after eight successive months of "green." The positive movements of most indicators suggest continued steady expansion of the economy.
1. Leading Indicators. The leading index stood at 108.7 (2001=100), increasing 1.0% from March, based on revised data. Among the seven indicators that made up the composite index, four that made positive contribution were stock prices*, wholesale price change from six months earlier, money supply M1B*, and floor area of building construction permits. Three that made negative contribution were average work hours in the manufacturing sector, customs-cleared exports*, and manufacturing new orders*.
(Note: components marked with an asterisk indicate year-on-year change rate)
2. Coincident Indicators. The coincident index stood at 113.5 (2001=100), increasing 0.8% from March, based on revised data. Among the six indicators that make up the composite index, five that made positive contribution were manufacturing sales, average monthly wage of manufacturing workers*, manufacturing production*, bank clearings* and industrial production*, Domestic freight was not included due to data unavailability.
3. The Monitoring Indicators. The total score recorded 22 points in April, down 1 point from March. The loss was attributable to decelerations in customs-cleared exports. The light signals for money supply M1B, bank clearings and remittance, direct and indirect finance, stock prices, industrial production, manufacturing new orders, manufacturing inventory and non-agricultural employment remained unchanged.
4. Business Expectations. The April survey of manufacturers indicated that 18% of manufacturing businesses expected the economy to become better over the next three months, the same as a month earlier, while another 14% held a negative view, up from the revised 9% a month earlier; and 68% of the manufacturers surveyed expected the economy's performance to remain unchanged, down from the revised 73% in the March survey.
The next release is scheduled for June 27, 2006