Taipei, June 29 (CNA) The Taiwan Research Institute, a leading economic think tank, on Friday raised its forecast for the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2018, citing strong export performance amid the strengthening global economic recovery.

The forecast for Taiwan's GDP growth this year has been revised to 2.62 percent, up 0.31 percentage points from the previous forecast of 2.31 percent in December last year, according to the think tank.

The institute's 2018 GDP growth forecast was more upbeat than the government's projection, which was also raised in May from 2.42 percent to 2.6 percent.

The revised forecast was made as a result of a stronger-than-expected global economic recovery, which aided the country's export performance in the first half of this year, the institute said.

But despite the upward adjustment, institute founder Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英) said Taiwan's GDP growth rate will still find it hard to break the 3 percentage barrier anytime soon due to the lackluster investment climate in Taiwan.

Local businesses were investing or spending less and saving more, according to Liu.

This is disconcerting, especially amid a global economic recovery, Liu said.

With the lack of new investments in the country, coupled with weakening private consumption, the growth rate will be limited, he said.

(By Pan Tzi-yu and Ko Lin)
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