The New Taiwan dollar may rise as much as 3.5 percent against the US dollar by year-end as the nation's economic growth accelerates and demand for Taiwanese exports increases, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (
The nation's currency will probably strengthen to between NT$33 and NT$33.20 versus the greenback, Wu Rong-I (
"The global economic situation seems good enough that we can maintain a more optimistic forecast, driven by exports," said Wu, "Pressure for the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate is there."
Exports, which account for about half of GDP, will help the economy expand as much as 6 percent this year, Wu said, exceeding the government's forecast of 5.4 percent.
"At least in the first six months of this year, Taiwan's economy is quite good," Wu said.
Compared to Wu's optimism, other economists were more low key about the NT dollar.
"We don't see obvious pressure for appreciation out there for the Taiwan dollar," said Chou Ji (
"We saw a trend for a narrower trade surplus coming in the second half of this year, bolstered by the augmentation of domestic demands over the same time," Chou said, adding that this could result in a downturn in the nation's trade balance as well as current account balance, which might weaken the currency.
The US' move to raise interest rates earlier this week indicated a decent economy and was helpful to maintain a strong US dollar, which, in turn, caused a reduced opportunity for NT dollar to appreciate, he said.
The local currency closed at NT$34.192 against the greenback yesterday, up from NT$34.14 on Thursday, on the Taipei foreign exchange market in line with a weakening Japanese yen.
The NT dollar has appreciated 0.6 percent in the past 12 months, making it the sixth-best performer among 15 Asia-Pacific currencies tracked by Bloomberg data. Last year, it climbed 2.2 percent, the most in four years.
Economists such as Chou think the market may not favor Asian currencies, citing the depressing Japanese currency impacted by unexpectedly low GDP growth for the second quarter released on Thursday and China's cooling-off policy.
Japan yesterday reported a lower-than-expected GDP growth of 1.7 percent in the second quarter, which dragged the currency toward around ?112 against the US dollar.
Yang Kung-yi (
"If the government expects to boost economic growth through enhancement of exports, it would not allow the NT dollar to appreciate," Yang said.
The nation's foreign-currency reserves rose for the 37th month to a record US$230.4 billion last month, according to the central bank.
"Theoretically, NT dollar is determined by the market," said Kuan Chung-ming (
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday reported record sales for the first quarter, which analysts attributed to solid demand for emerging technologies. Consolidated revenue totaled NT$592.64 billion (US$18.51 billion) in the January-to-March period, up 16.5 percent from a year earlier, but down 5.26 percent from the previous quarter, TSMC said in a statement. The first-quarter revenue beat analysts’ average projection of NT$579.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported. That performance lends weight to expectations that the world’s most valuable chipmaker would return to solid growth this year after weathering a post-COVID-19-pandemic cratering of smartphone and computer sales. TSMC is budgeting
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last