Central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan's (彭淮南) performance is graded "B" this year, up from last year's "C," according to a report by Global Finance magazine scheduled to be released tomorrow.
The report, "2004 Central Banker Report Cards," lauded Perng's new-found independence to maintain "dynamic stability" in the nation's foreign exchange market, which supports its export-driven economy.
His grades in the past years slid to "C" last year and in 2002 from "B" in 2001 and "A" in 2000.
"Perng Fai-nan may go down in history as the central banker who tried to break the Central Bank of China's habit of moving in lockstep with the US Fed," the magazine said about Perng.
Global Finance also quoted Perng saying in May that the central bank may not follow the US Federal Reserve if it raises interest rates.
"Monetary policy decisions should be country-specific, and cross-country synchronization of monetary policy is not necessarily desirable," it quoted Perng as saying in Jeju Island, South Korea, during the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank.
Taiwan has cut interest rates 15 times since December 2000, matching the Fed's actions nearly exactly. Local economists and market watchers have speculated that the central bank may raise interest rates today following its quarterly board meeting to avoid inflation, following the Fed's move last week.
The magazine said that Perng's decision to put an end to his three-year expansionary policy will be supported by the nation's economic growth forecasts for this year of 5.9 percent, and inflation that is unlikely to top 1.5 percent despite higher oil prices.
The annual survey rated the performance of 30 central bankers in the world this year, including those in 12 Asian countries.
Among the Asian bankers, Perng was awarded the same score as five of his counterparts, including India's Yaga Venugopal Reddy, Japan's Toshihiko Fukui, New Zealand's Alan Bollard, the Philippines' Rafael Buenaventura and Singapore's Park Seung.
Perng, however, outshone China's Zhou Xiaochuan (
According to Global Finance, some central bankers stand out for their improved handling of their country's economy. They include Switzerland's Jean-Pierre Roth, whose grade leapt from "D" to "B" in recognition of his startling turnaround, and Canada's David Dodge, whose grade inched up half a grade from "D" to "C+."
The magazine awarded the Fed chairman Alan Greenspan a "C" this year on the basis that "he's done a reasonable job in what remain difficult circumstances." Global Finance said it expects Greenspan's grade to improve next year.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS