TAIPEI (AFP)--Taiwan's economy is expected to climb out of a recession in the fourth quarter, growing 4.48% on reviving exports, a think tank said Friday.

Taiwan suffered a record 10.24% economic contraction in the first quarter as the island's exports had been hit hard.
“The contraction has showed a sign of easing after the first quarter... The economy is expected to report growth in the fourth quarter,” Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research said in a statement.
“Exports in the fourth quarter are expected to grow 6.8% from a year earlier, compared with an estimated decline of 4.24% in the third quarter,” it said.
The island is expected to report a contraction of 6.12% in the second quarter and a decline of 1.92% in the third quarter on weak global demand, the institution said.
“The willingness to invest in the local market will remain weak in the second half of this year amid global economic woes,” it said.
Taiwan's economy is expected to contract 3.56% for 2009, while it is expected to grow 3.69% in 2010, the think tank said.