The Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research raised its forecast Friday for Taiwan's economic growth this year on strong export growth and the government's efforts to attract foreign investment. The upward revision from 4.99 percent to 6.94 percent came as the government is intensifying its efforts to capitalize on a newly signed pact between Taiwan and China to further liberalize trade and attract foreign investors. The effects of the tariff-free trade of goods prioritized in the cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) were not factored into the revised forecast, said Wang Lee-rong, director of the institution's Center for Economic Forecasting, at a press briefing. If the effects of the ECFA's 'early harvest' items were included, Taiwan's economic growth for 2010 would be projected at more than 7 percent, she said. The Polaris Research Institute's forecast put Taiwan's 2010 economic growth at 6.82 percent, the Taiwan Research Institute at 5.88 percent, and the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research at 5.11 percent. Meanwhile, the Chung-hua Institution forecast that unemployment this year will drop to 5.34 percent from 5.85 percent last year, Wang said. The government has been working to lower unemployment to less than 5 percent, and Premier Wu Den-yih has staked his own job on the administration's success in this regard. In its forecasts on other aspects of Taiwan's economy, the institution said the consumer price index (CPI) will rise 1.52 percent this year from last year and that the New Taiwan Dollar will reach an average of NT$31.51 against the U.S. currency, from NT$33.06 last year. For next year, the Chung-hua Institution predicted that the economy will grow 4.83 percent, the jobless rate will decrease to 4.81 percent, and the CPI will rise 1.51 percent, Wang said. 