By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Institute for Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for the nation’s economic growth to 2.67 percent this year, 0.21 percentage points higher than its estimate three months earlier, as progress in a US-China trade dispute allows global trade and manufacturing to regain momentum, it said. Improving corporate confidence and sustained monetary easing by global central banks should offset risks linked to a slowdown in major industries, it said. The per capita figures leave Taiwan lagging behind Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea, despite its stronger economic performance last year, the economist said. Taiwanese firms in China would continue relocation plans no matter how the US-China trade dispute pans out, as China’s manufacturing terms have grown increasingly unfavorable, he said. The local currency might trade at a stable average of NT$30.28 against the US dollar, it added.
