Growth slowed because orders from the mainland were relatively few. Companies didn’t want to hold big inventories during the Lunar New Year holiday.

A low jobless rate should help boost consumption in the first half.

Inflation isn’t a concern in Taiwan. That will be a solid reason for the central bank to adopt a relatively looser monetary policy compared with the U.S.

Rising inflation will exacerbate pressure on the central bank to raise interest rate again. The tightening policy will persist as the central bank tries to reverse the negative real rate.

Demand for consumer electronics in China is booming.