It's SARS Taiwan's time, Yiwu. Taiwan Sars warning grows as cases spread
By Geoff Dyer in London
Published: May 21 2003 19:22 | Last Updated: May 21 2003 19:22
The World Health Organisation on Wednesday extended its Sars warning for travellers to Taiwan to include the whole island, not just the capital Taipei.
It follows the announcement of another 35 cases of the disease on Wednesday, including new infections in the south of the island.
Tawian now has 418 probable cases of Sars, the third highest level after mainland China and Hong Kong.
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Sars slashes Taiwan's GDP growth forecast
By Kathrin Hille in Taipei
Published: May 16 2003 17:03 | Last Updated: May 16 2003 17:03
Taiwan on Friday cut its forecast for full-year gross domestic product growth to 2.89 per cent, with the Sars virus slicing 0.7 percentage points off previous official predictions.
The government forecast the disease would drag GDP growth down to 1.2 per cent in the second quarter. Private consumption will drop by 1.1 per cent, the first-ever contraction, year on year, said the directorate-general of budget, accounting and statistics. "We have to concentrate on fighting deflation now," Hsu Jan-yau, deputy director-general, said.
First quarter growth slowed to 3.21 per cent, slightly below the government's forecast. If the disease is not contained by the end of June, GDP growth for the whole year could drop to 1.9 per cent, Mr Hsu said.
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