GDP to increase 4.03% this year: TIERECONOMIC OUTLOOK: The institute’s president said that US president-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to increase tariffs would reduce global trade and increase inflationBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday upgraded its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4.03 percent, from the 3.85 percent that it estimated in July, and predicted the economy would grow 3.15 percent next year. However, the institute warned that US president-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House creates uncertainty about Taiwan’s foreign trade outlook. Speaking at a seminar in Taipei, TIER president Chang Chien-yi (張建一) said the key word next year is “trade.”Taiwan Institute of Economic Research president Chang Chien-yi attends a seminar in Taipei yesterday. If Trump were to raise tariffs as he pledged during the campaign, global trade volume would definitely decrease and the world would see a return of higher inflation, he said. The institute forecast that Taiwan’s consumer price index would rise 2.23 percent this year and 1.87 percent next year.
