Taipei, July 25 (CNA) The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院), one of the leading think tanks in the country, on Monday lowered its forecast for Taiwan's 2016 gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 0.77 percent, citing prolonged weakness in the country's exports amid a slow global economy.



The figure was 0.5 percentage points lower than the TIER's estimate of 1.27 percent in April and was its third downward revision this year in its forecast for Taiwan's 2016 GDP growth.



The International Monetary Fund and Economist Intelligence Unit have both cut their growth forecast for the 2016 global economy and trade, while the vote by British people in June to leave the European Union has impacted the global financial market and created uncertainties about the global economy, the TIER said.



Domestically, the TIER said, although Taiwan's actual exports and export orders have been recovering, there has been no positive growth yet.



Consumer confidence, government investments, and investments in construction projects are also still declining, affecting domestic growth, the TIER said.



(By Chiu Po-sheng and Christie Chen)

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