TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwanese exports dived 28.6 percent in February to $12.59 billion, the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year decline as the global financial crisis hits foreign demand, the government said Monday.
The Finance Ministry said February's exports saw a milder fall than January's 44 percent decline because some electronics manufacturers received mass orders, and also because January's Chinese lunar new year holidays skewed that month's figures.
Foreign analysts have predicted that Taiwan's export-dependent economy could contract from 5 to 11 percent this year due to the global economic slump.
The government has put the likely contraction at 3 percent.
Exports to mainstay market China and its Hong Kong territory dropped 25.2 percent in February to $5 billion, the ministry said.
Imports amounted to $10.92 billion during the month, down 31.6 percent from a year earlier, leaving a trade surplus of $1.7 billion, it said.