Taiwan economy expands 3.04 pct in Q1

TAIPEI, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Driven by strong exports and private consumption, Taiwan's economy expanded 3.04 percent in the first quarter on a year-on-year basis, according to an estimate from the island's statistics authority Friday.

The result beat an earlier forecast of 2.77 percent made by the same agency in February.

Exports of goods and services grew by 6.03 percent, mainly driven by the strong demand for electronic components and machinery. Imports also increased by 5.61 percent.

Private final consumption grew by 3.02 percent, mainly reflecting the increase of consumption in transport, recreation and culture, and financial services, said the press release.

On the same day, the island's development council released a series of monthly business indicators for March.

The overall monitoring indicator remained green but four components out of nine, including the index of producer's shipment for manufacturing, were yellow-blue.

Color codes are used by the island to gauge economic health, with red signaling economic boom, green for steady growth and blue for recession. Yellow-red light and yellow-blue light are transitional. Enditem