Taiwan's April Exports Rise to Record High

Monday May 8, 5:00 am ET

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwan's exports rose faster than expected in April to a record high on strong demand for electronics goods from Hong Kong, China, the U.S. and South Korea, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement Monday.
The island's exports grew 15 percent to US$18.8 billion (euro15.0 billion) in April, higher than the average forecast of 8.9 percent in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists. The growth rate was also higher than March's growth rate of 7.1 percent.

Taiwan's export value in April surpassed the previous record of US$18.792 billion hit in October.

Taiwan's imports in April rose 5 percent from the same month last year to US$16.42 billion, the ministry said. That was in line with expectations and reversing March's 0.5 percent decline.

The trade figures resulted in a trade surplus in April of US$2.4 billion (euro1.9 billion).