Taiwan Trade Surplus Grows On Exports Surge

(RTTNews) - Taiwan's foreign trade surplus increased notably in March from a year ago as exports rose more rapidly than imports, preliminary figures from the Ministry of Finance revealed on Wednesday.

The trade surplus climbed to $8.68 billion in March from $4.24 billion in the corresponding month last year. The surplus also grew from $7.88 billion in February.

Exports grew 18.9 percent year-over-year in March, which was much faster than the 1.3 percent increase in the prior month. Economists had forecast 8.5 percent growth.

Shipments of information, communication, and audio-video products jumped 165.0 percent annually in March, while those of parts of electronic products slid by 5.5 percent.

Imports rebounded 7.1 percent annually in March after a 17.8 percent slump in February. Meanwhile, economists had forecast a further decline of 2.4 percent.