Taiwan's economic growth moderated in the first quarter, according to advance estimates by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, released on Thursday.
Gross domestic product grew 3.06 percent in the first quarter, following the fourth quarter's 4.86 percent expansion.
GDP advanced 6.39 percent on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualized basis after rising 7.63 percent in the preceding period.
On the expenditure-side, private consumption rose at a slower pace of 0.23 percent, primarily due to weakness in service consumption and government spending posted a 0.45 percent drop. At the same time, growth in gross capital formation halved to 7.19 percent.
Both exports and imports registered slower growth, both rising about 8.9 percent, each.
Electricity shortages and mounting Covid cases pose risks to the economy, Iris Pang, an ING economist said. It seems that these two hurdles will not be easily resolved, and will affect GDP growth in the second quarter, she added.
