No new taxes
The Cabinet has promised not to levy any new taxes amid the current domestic economic downturn, a business leader said yesterday.
"Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) offered the promise during a breakfast meeting with representatives from the local business community earlier in the day," said Huang Mao-hsiung (黃茂雄), chairman of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, one of the three leading domestic trade associations.
Lin was quoted as having told all those present at the meeting that the government is fully aware of the present economic woes and will not propose any new taxes at this critical juncture in Taiwan's development.
However, Lin rejected a proposal from the businessmen to lower the business income tax rate from the current 25 percent to 15 percent.
TSMC sales improve
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's biggest supplier of made-to-order chips, said sales in October climbed by almost half from a year ago as Christmas-season demand increased.
Sales last month rose 48 percent to NT$15.2 billion (US$439 million) from NT$10.3 billion in the same period a year ago. They increased a fifth from NT$12.8 billion in the previous month.
The company's sales beat the NT$14.9 billion expectation of UBS Warburg analyst William Dong, who added that he expects TSMC's sales in November and December to fall from October levels.
Orders from companies in the personal-computer business have increased because inventories are low, he said.
TSMC said it raised its forecast for shipments of silicon wafers, which are used to make chips, in the fourth quarter. The company declined to give details.
In its third-quarter earnings announcement last month, TSMC said that wafer shipments will fall in the fourth quarter by a percentage in the ``low teens.''
Exports increase
Taiwan's exports rose 0.6 percent in October from a year ago to $US11.5 billion, from $US11.28 billion in September, official data showed yesterday.
The increase was lower than September's year-on-year growth of 27.4 percent, the finance ministry said.
Imports in October rose 5.0 percent from a year earlier to $US10.19 billion, after a 36.3 percent rise in the previous month, it said.
It said the trade surplus in October fell 24.3 percent from a year earlier to $US1.31 billion, compared with a 36.5 percent fall recorded in September.
NT dollar called overvalued
Taiwan should depreciate its currency to spur its exports, the legislative caucus of the opposition TSU said yesterday.
TSU Legislator Wu Tung-sheng (吳東昇) said at a news conference held by the party caucus that the NT dollar is overvalued in comparison with currencies of neighboring countries.
Over the past decade, Wu said, the South Korean won has depreciated about 78 percent against the US dollar, compared to a 74 percent depreciation of China's yuan and a 68 percent devaluation of the Thai baht.
During the same period, the NT dollar has depreciated only 33 percent against the US dollar.
"The figures indicate that the New Taiwan dollar is relatively strong after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis," Wu said.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar closed at 34.596 against the greenback on the Taipei foreign exchange market Thursday, compared to 34.685 Wednesday on turnover of US$540 million.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
Handset camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Sunday reported a 6.71 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for the third quarter, despite revenue last month hitting the highest level in 11 months. Third-quarter revenue was NT$17.68 billion (US$581.2 million), compared with NT$18.95 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The figure was in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$17.9 billion, but missed the market consensus estimate of NT$18.97 billion. The third-quarter revenue was a 51.44 percent increase from NT$11.67 billion in the second quarter, as the quarter is usually the peak
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Thursday reported a 12.3 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for last quarter to NT$257.86 billion (US$8.44 billion), but it expects revenue to improve in the second half on traditional holiday demand. The fourth quarter is usually the peak season for its communications products, a company official said on condition of anonymity. As Apple released its new iPhone 17 series early last month, sales in the communications segment rose sequentially last month, the official said. Shipments to Apple have been stable and in line with earlier expectations, they said. Pegatron shipped 2.4 million notebook
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