BANK EXECUTIVES OPTIMISTIC ABOUT TAIWAN'S ECONOMIC PROSPECTS.

TAIPEI, Sept 1 Asia Pulse - Economic recoveries in the United States and Japan will help stimulate Taiwan's economy and Taiwan will benefit from positive economic developments in mainland China, regional executives of two international banks said.

Cheng Cheng-mou, vice president of Citibank's Taipei branch, said that Citibank has recently revised its forecast of Taiwan's economic growth in 2003 from 2.3 per cent to 2.7 per cent, while the United States is expected to attain a 2.5 per cent growth, Japan 1.9 per cent, mainland China 7.5 per cent, and the Euro-zone 0.6 per cent.

He said that the 2.7 per cent projection remained conservative in comparison with the forecast of 3.06 per cent by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics under the Executive Yuan.

While economists of the international bank have revised upwards their forecast regarding Taiwan, Cheng pointed out that although Taiwan suffered the impact of the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in April and May, foreign capital has been coming into Taiwan since early this year, especially in the hi-tech sectors.

Saying that different industries may expect various paces of recovery in the following months, Cheng foresees accelerated recoveries in the semiconductor, TFT (thin-film-transistor) display, and digital camera manufacturing industries.

With promising prospects for these locomotive industries, Cheng said that Taiwan is projected to achieve a 4.2 per cent economic growth next year.

Meanwhile, economists of the Standard Chartered Bank are even more optimistic about economic recoveries around the globe, as they forecast the U.S. will be able to attain a 4 per cent economic growth in the second half of this year, and ...