EDITORIAL: Taiwan growing, but not spendingTaiwan’s current account surplus in the fourth quarter of last year increased from US$36.02 billion a year earlier to US$69.93 billion, a record high, data released by the central bank show. Last year, Taiwan registered a current account surplus of US$181.14 billion, as the goods trade surplus reached an all-time high of US$176.05 billion, the data showed. The DGBAS has said that the excess savings rate is estimated to jump to 26.03 percent this year from 19.61 percent last year. Some critics have long viewed excess savings as idle funds and say an increase in excess savings reflects weakening domestic consumption and investment. That implies two things: First, even though investment momentum is not weakening, particularly in the semiconductor industry, domestic investment growth does lag behind export growth.

Source: Taipei Times March 02, 2026 17:57 UTC