Consumer confidence rises
The consumer confidence index for December is 71.31, or the first slight increase in six months, the Taiwan Research Institute (TRI, 台綜院), a non-profit think tank, said yesterday.
Among the six indexes that comprise the institute's consumer confidence index, the commodity level in the next six months was the only one to rise -- from 91.75 in November to 92.30 in December -- showing that the public feels that commodity prices are stable and that commodity supplies are plentiful.
Confidence in the economic prospects for the next six months is 57.40, up slightly from the 57.10 of last month, while confidence in the household finances in the next six months was down to 67.80 in December from 68.05 in November, showing that more and more families are feeling the burden of economic pressure.
China Airlines seals deals
Air carrier China Airlines Co (華航) said yesterday that it has placed firm orders for 12 Airbus A330 aircraft and 10 Boeing 747-400s in deals worth billions of dollars.
The carrier said the deal with Airbus includes options for another six A330 aircraft. The Boeing order includes six B747-400 passenger aircraft and four B747-400 freighters.
China Airlines declined to provide the total price but airline spokesman Roger Han (韓梁中) said it was "much lower than the list price."
The total for the two deals according to list prices would be US$3.9 billion, with each 747-400 priced at US$200 million and the A330 at US$190 million.
China Airlines is speeding up its fleet replacement plans. The average age of the carrier's fleet, which includes 41 passenger and 14 cargo aircraft, is now 5.7 years.
Plane ticket sales up
China Airlines Co (華航) said November sales rose 12 percent from a year ago to NT$6.4 billion (US$183.7 million), the company said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange.
Sales were NT$5.7 billion in November a year ago.
Meanwhile, Eva Airways Corp (長榮), Taiwan's second-largest airline, said November sales rose 43 percent from a year ago.
Sales rose to NT$6 billion (US$172 million) from NT$4.2 billion a year ago.
China fever hits employees
First-time job seekers in Taiwan are highly interested in taking jobs that require them to go to China, the 104 Job Bank said yesterday in its latest poll.
The job bank said that the number of job seekers who are willing to work in China has averaged a total of 10,000 daily over the past one month, while the number of mainland-based job openings has averaged about 2,300 daily.
The most mainland-based job openings by sector are in the export-import business, electronics manufacturing, and marketing, the poll said.
Privatization progresses
The Taiwan government plans to raise NT$56.5 billion (US$1.6 billion) next year from selling stakes in Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油), China Steel Corp (中鋼) and three other companies, Vice Finance Minister Susan Chang (張秀蓮) said in a statement to the Legislature.
The sales are aimed at reducing budget deficits. The government faces an estimated NT$291 billion (US$8 billion) budget deficit this year. Taiwan also needs to pare its record national debt of more than NT$3 trillion.
NT dollar slips
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.03 to close at NT$34.848 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$297 million, compared with the previous day's US$244 million.
Agencies
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