■ Investment not hurt by election
Foreign direct investment has not been affected by the dispute over the March 20 election, a government official said Tuesday. Chu Ta-wen (瞿大文), director-general of the Industrial Development and Investment Center under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, acknowledged that the huge rally staged by the opposition camp last Saturday has stirred up grave concern among foreign investors with operations in this country. But Chu claimed that foreign direct investment willingness has not been noticeably undermined now that the demonstrations have ended smoothly. Short-term political instability is not expected to have a major impact on foreign investment projects at home, which are usually launched only after long-term assessment, he said. For instance, he said, construction of a plant by Japan's Hoya Corp in the fourth compound of the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (新竹科學園區) will kick off tomorrow as scheduled and mass production is slated to begin by the end of this year.
■ Citibank offers new services
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, Citibank Taiwan announced yesterday that it was launching two preferential services for local customers. The bank would launch the "Citibank World Privileges" program, targeting Citibank Gold, Platinum and Diamond customers, Victor Kuan (管國霖), the bank's country business manager for consumer banking, said at a press conference. Kuan said those cardholders would be able to enjoy preferential treatment and merchant offers at 15,000 outlets in 34 countries. The bank also introduced a new program that makes customers who purchase at least NT$150,000 in overseas bonds, US stocks by April 30 eligible for an interest rate of 3 percent, said Yunny Lee (李芸), director of branch banking and investment.
■ NPL ratio declines to 4.29%
Domestic banks' bad-loan ratio fell to 4.29 percent in February, from 4.34 percent in the previous month, the Bureau of Monetary Affairs of the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. A total of NT$873.1 billion (US$26.33 billion) of loans were classified as non-performing and under surveillance at the end of February, according to the bureau. That compares with NT$886.6 billion at the end of December. The government is prodding banks to clean up bad loans so they are able to compete with foreign rivals. It also wants them to use international accounting standards when measuring their non-performing loans (NPLs) starting in July next year. NPLs refer to those for which repayment of principal is overdue by three months and repayment of interest by six months. Under the new criteria, loans for which repayment of either principal or interest is overdue by three months will also be included.
■ Travel advisory issued
Travelers and companies should suspend travel and business visits to Ivory Coast due to that nation's political instability after several violent clashes between government forces and political opposition last week, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said in a statement yesterday. According to Customs statistics, trade between Taiwan and Ivory Coast amounted to US$44.68 million in 2002, a 57.2 percent drop from the previous year, and the figure continued to slide to US$19.1 million last year.
■ NT dollar gains strength
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday had its strongest close in more than 20 months, rising NT$0.14, or 0.4 percent, to close at NT$33.02 against the US dollar on the Taipei foreign exchange market. The turnover was US$1.12 billion.
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