Taiwan to keep interest rate steady for 14th straight quarter

16 Dec, 2014

TAIPEI: Taiwan's central bank is expected to leave its policy interest rate unchanged for the 14th quarter in a row on Thursday, but it may express concern about next year's economic outlook.

All 13 economists polled by Reuters forecast the key discount rate would be kept unchanged at 1.875 percent at the central bank's quarterly meeting.

This year is on track to be a bumper one for export orders for the island's export-driven economy. Demand has been strong for Taiwanese technology components and devices, which make up a large part of Apple Inc's popular, new smartphone models launched in September.

However, concerns over weak growth in major trading partners China and Europe are clouding the outlook for 2015, prompting Taiwan's government last month to trim its forecasts for exports and economic growth.

Inflation is mild. The consumer price index for the first 11 months of the year is up 1.26 percent from a year earlier, after rising just 0.86 percent in November.

Copyright Reuters, 2014

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