TAIWAN cut its 2015 economic growth outlook to a fresh six-year low Friday as a slowdown on the Chinese mainland and falling demand for its tech exports pushed the trade-reliant economy into recession.

    Gross domestic product was expected to expand 1.06 percent this year, the local government said, a level not seen since 2009 when the economy contracted 1.57 percent. The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics had previously forecast growth of 1.56 percent in August and 3.28 percent in May.

    The third quarter shrank a seasonally adjusted annualized 1.2 percent from the April-June quarter, which contracted a sharper 4.5 percent against the previous quarter.

    “The latest full-year GDP forecast was roughly in line with expectations,” said Woods Chen, an analyst of Ta Chong Bank in Taipei. “Demand from the mainland has been softening and competition at the Chinese market has been rising while companies cut their prices.”

    Exports, drivers of the island’s economic growth, are estimated to fall 10.16 percent this year, worse than a previously forecast decline of 7.1 percent, the government agency said.

    The downgrades point to softening global demand for iPhones and other tech gadgets in the coming months that will weigh on growth. Taiwan is a key supply-chain hub for high-tech products, with its manufacturers supplying parts for global titans such as Apple Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

    “Asian countries have been depreciating their currencies, making Taiwan’s exports less competitive,” said Chen. “We don’t expect improvement in exports until the second quarter of next year.”(SD-Agencies)