Taiwan, one of the world’s richest countries,...

Taiwan, one of the world’s richest countries, is likely to become richer in 1988, with its foreign exchange reserves rising as high as $90 billion, according to economists and officials. The reserves were expected to rise from $46.3 billion in 1986 to a record high of more than $75 billion in 1987, central bank governor Chang Chi-cheng said. Taiwan has the world’s second-largest reserves after Japan.

Last year, government officials and business leaders described the expanding reserves as “a happy headache” for the island, which has a population of 19.6 million.

A senior economist said the reserves could increase by as much as $15 billion to $90 billion because of Taiwan’s growing trade surplus, estimated at more than $18 billion. Most of the surplus comes from Taiwan’s trade with the United States, which is expected to have topped $16 billion in 1987, compared to $13.6 billion in 1986.

Vincent Siew, director of the Board of Foreign Trade, said the 1988 surplus with the United States would drop to about $14 billion, mainly because of a rise in imports from Taiwan’s largest trading partner.

Meanwhile, an official said Taiwan’s trade with West Germany will almost double to more than $6 billion in the next five years. Sampson Shen, representative to Bonn, said bilateral trade was expected to hit a record $3.5 billion for 1987, compared to $2.41 billion in 1986.