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TAIPEI - TAIWAN plunged into recession as the economy contracted a record 8.36 per cent in the three months to December due to the global economic meltdown, the government said on Wednesday.
The figure 'marked the biggest slump since 1961' when the government started compiling quarterly figures, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a statement. The agency had previously forecast a contraction of 1.73 per cent in fourth quarter gross domestic product, and blamed the global economic turmoil which has hit the island's important export sector. 'The pace and scale of the global economic downturn beat our forecast. Taiwan's export and manufacturing sectors suffered a huge setback and the private sector's investment shrank at a fast pace,' the agency said. The export sector, the primary engine of Taiwan's economy, tumbled 19.75 per cent while imports fell 22.63 per cent. For the full-year 2008, Taiwan's gross domestic product edged up 0.12 per cent while per capita GDP came in at US$17,576. Looking ahead, the agency predicted the domestic economy would contract 2.97 per cent in 2009 as overseas demand for electronic-related products - Taiwan's main exports - is not expected to pick up anytime soon. Exports are forecast to tumble 20.1 per cent this year while imports to slump 26.2 per cent, leaving a forecast trade surplus of US$26.3 billion (S$40.2 billion). -- AFP
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