TAIPEI, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's economy is expected to expand by 2.01 percent in 2017 as foreign trade increases thanks to signs of a warming global economy, Taiwan Research Institute announced Thursday.
The institute said it had raised its forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Taiwan for 2017 by 0.27 percentage points to 2.01 percent on back of positive trends in global trade, economy and financial markets.
However, it warned, Taiwan's growth was still below the global baseline of three percent and weak private consumption and investment might drag on economic growth in the second half.
According to Wu Tsai-yi, president of the institute, the share that private consumption contributed to Taiwan's GDP has fallen sharply in recent years due to income stagnation, resulting in the number of middle class residents shrinking.
