Taiwan growth quickens, raises inflation outlook

TAIPEI - Taiwan raised its inflation forecast after the island's economy grew faster than estimated, adding pressure for a further increase in interest rates.

Gross domestic product climbed 6.19 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier, after rising 6.92 percent in the fourth quarter, the statistics bureau said in a preliminary estimate released in Taipei on Friday. The median prediction in a Bloomberg News survey of 17 economists was 5 percent, following an expansion of more than 10 percent in 2010.

Interest rates rose for the fourth straight quarter last month and signaled scope for further increases even as Japan's earthquake threatens to disrupt trade and tourism.