Taiwan's exports and imports were both weaker-than-expected in July, casting a shadow over the peak pre-Christmas orders season as exports to the United States, Hong Kong and Japan all declined.
"International demand for information technology and telecom goods remains weak. But with expectations of U.S. demand growing more optimistic, exports should improve in August and September," Hsu Kuo-chung, the ministry's chief statistician, told reporters on Thursday, 14 August 2003.
The ministry said July exports rose 4.5 per cent from a year earlier to US$11.6 billion, falling short of the 6.7 per cent increase forecast by a Reuters poll but higher than June's 3.4 per cent gain.
While the SARS outbreak has faded, Taiwan imports still fell 2.6 per cent to US$10.4 billion, the first decline since April 2002 and worse than June's 7.1 per cent year-on-year rise. The Reuters poll of 10 economists had predicted a 1.2 per cent rise.
