A senior Taiwan official has urged calm and insisted the economy's fundamentals remain strong after the island's stock market slid more than 20 percent since the start of the year.

Deputy Finance Minister Frank Juan told Reuters on Friday after another large fall in share prices that Taiwan’s economic fundamentals are good and investors should remain calm, rational and not panic.

Taiwan’s benchmark index closed down 3.3 percent, making it the worst performing market in Asia on Friday. It is down 21 percent so far this year.

Juan said Taiwan’s economic fundamentals were good, especially its trade numbers and revenue figures for listed firms.

“The stock market fall today is a bit of an overreaction and a bit panicked. Please be calm, rational, and don’t panic,” he said.

If there is a need, the National Stabilisation Fund can meet to discuss measures for the market, added Juan, who heads the fund which the government uses to intervene in the market if there is a large amount of volatility.

Policymakers have lowered Taiwan’s economic growth outlook for this year to less than four percent, having previously predicted it growing more than four percent, seeing the trade-dependent island being hit by global inflation woes, the effect of the war in Ukraine, snarled supply chains and falling demand for tech products.

Taiwan’s export orders, a bellwether for global technology demand due to the island’s key semiconductor industry, logged a strong annual rise in May, recovering from COVID-19 lockdowns in China and global supply chain disruptions, but the government has warned of global economic uncertainty ahead