GDP reports
SOUTH Korea and Taiwan are due to release their gross domestic product (GDP) numbers for the first quarter (Q1) this week.
ING forecast for Taiwan’s Q1 GDP growth is 5.5% y-o-y, up from 5.1% y-o-y in Q4’20.
It expects a 1% y-o-y GDP growth in South Korea after a contraction in the preceding three quarters.
The research house said Taiwan was a notable exception to an unprecedented economic slump during the Covid-19 crisis as GDP growth remained positive throughout 2020.
South Korea Posco steel factory - filepic
While this had the island economy off to a strong start in 2021, disproportionate benefits of global semiconductor shortages kept exports and GDP growth accelerating.
Inflation report on deck
THIS week’s economic calendar includes key readings on the consumer price index (CPI), leading economic index and foreign reserves.
The Statistics Department is announcing inflation data for March 2021 on Friday while Bank Negara is expected to announce international reserves as at April 15 on Thursday.
Economists expect inflation to grow faster in March but do not see inflation becoming a threat anytime soon.
According to Bloomberg estimates, inflation in March is expected to grow 1.6% year-on-year from 0.1% in February.
The CPI increased 0.1% in February 2021 to 122.5 as against 122.4 in the same month of the preceding year.
For the period January to February, the CPI decreased 0.1% as compared to the same period last year.