TAIPEI: The economy likely grew by 2.41 percent during the second quarter, not by 1.78 percent as originally forecast, the government’s Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
The surprise surge of the Gross Domestic Product was mainly the result of exports and domestic investment, the Central News Agency reported.
Last May, the DGBAS predicted that annual growth for the year 2019 would reach 2.19 percent. The estimate was based on forecasts of the economy improving each quarter, from 1.71 percent in the first quarter to over 1.78 percent in the second, 2.39 percent in the third, and finishing at a growth figure of 2.8 percent during the final quarter of the year.
The new figure for the second quarter showed the highest rate of GDP growth since the same quarter last year, when the economy surged by 3.29 percent.
Despite the unexpected improvement, the DGBAS still cautioned that there were numerous unpredictable factors at play, including exchange rates, trade disputes, political developments, and oil prices, according to CNA.
