POSITIVE OUTLOOK: The central bank might increase the deposit reserve ratio to tame inflation and might forgo additional rate hikes in December if inflation slows/ Staff writer, with CNA
The nation’s manufacturers and service providers expect business to improve in the second half of this year after reporting lackluster sales and profits in the first half due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global inflation, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The Taipei-based institute said that 57.1 percent of manufacturers expect business to improve, while the rate was 58.7 percent for non-manufacturing companies.
The results of the twice-yearly survey came after the official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index disappointed by shedding 13.9 points for the past six months to 46.7, slipping into contraction territory, it said.
The profitability measure
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month came in at 56.3, staying in the expansion zone for the 22nd month, but shedding 1.5 points from March, as mounting inflationary pressures and China’s COVID-19 lockdowns weighed on new orders and clouded the outlook, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究) said yesterday.
PMI data reflect the health of the manufacturing industry, with values larger than 50 suggesting expansion and scores lower than the threshold indicating contraction.
All manufacturing sectors reported that business improved last month, but were less upbeat about prospects as new orders posted their first decline in
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month gained 2.6 points to 58.8, as demand picked up for most sectors, despite a possible downward pull due to the Lunar New Year holiday, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
A spike in new orders for electronics, optical devices and machinery allowed the new business subindex to overcome unfavorable seasonality with a six-point increase to 58.6, the Taipei-based think tank said.
“The latest survey showed that operating conditions remained healthy and should remain bright,” CIER president Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章) said.
Economic gauges in countries where the Lunar New Year