Taiwan in recession

TAIPEI: Taiwan sank into recession in October to December, data showed on Friday, posting its slowest annual growth in six years, with weak international demand and greater competition from China hitting the export-dependent island. The growth rate of 0.85 per cent in 2015 missed an earlier official forecast of 1.06 per cent. The full-year figure was dragged down by an unexpected contraction in the three months through December, the second straight quarter of declines that meets the definition of a technical recession. “Inventories of electronic products continue to be digested, affected by weak global growth,” the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a statement. It also cited the rise of technology manufacturing — a key sector for Taiwan — in China and declines in raw materials as factors for the struggling economy.