■ Ho asked to leave other post
Yesterday, the Financial Supervisory Commission said Ho Show-chuan (何壽川) is not qualified to be the board member of SinoPac Financial Holding Co (建華金控) unless Ho steps down from his current chairmanship of the International Bank of Taipei (IBT, 台北國際商銀). "People in charge of a bank are not allowed to double as the chairman or board directors of other banks and financial holding companies... unless the bank invests in other financial institutions," Lin Dong-liang (林棟樑), a section chief of the commission's Bureau of Monetary Affairs, said at a press conference yesterday, citing the regulations of the bank's person in charge amended in March this year. Since Ho was not elected as SinoPac's board member representing IBT but another corporate shareholder, Ho cannot apply to the exceptional regulation to double as IBT's chairman and SinoPac's board director at the same time, Lin said. As a result, Ho's plan to convene the board meeting for SinoPac's new chairmanship today is currently pending. In response, Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Co (永豐餘造紙) reasserted they are considering to propose an experienced outsider to take up SinoPac's chairmanship.
■ Economic growth targeted
Taiwan's government plans to announce new measures to help it achieve its 4.5 percent economic growth target this year, the cabinet said in a statement. ``We still aim to achieve a 4.5 percent economic growth this year,'' the statement quoted Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) as saying in a cabinet meeting Wednesday. As part of the efforts to spur growth, the government will extend an existing NT$300 billion (US$9.6 billion) subsidized home-loans program, the statement said, without saying how much more money would be made available. The economic growth target, which was set by the cabinet's research arm, is higher than Taiwan's official forecast. The government on Feb. 24 lowered its 2005 growth forecast to 4.2 percent from 4.6 percent, citing sluggish exports. The government will also ask parliament this year to approve an NT$80 billion water conservancy project that would last for eight years, it said. The cabinet hopes to boost private investment this year by NT$100 billion as a result of build-operate-transfer projects, it said. It will also accelerate spending allowed by a NT$500 billion five-year special infrastructure budget passed by parliament last year.
■ NT declines against US dollar
The New Taiwan dollar declined against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, gaining NT$0.053 to close at NT$31.263. A total of US$638 million changed hands during the day's trading.
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