■ Bank has no meeting plans
The nation's central bank said it doesn't have any plans to hold an extraordinary board meeting, after local newspapers said it may meet soon to raise interest rates. "Regarding media reports that the bank will hold an extraordinary board meeting in the near term, there's no such plan," the Central Bank of China in Taipei said in a faxed statement yesterday. A Chinese-language newspaper reported at the weekend that the central bank may soon raise its benchmark interest rate by an eighth to a quarter of a percentage point amid potential inflation risks. The central bank is slated to hold its next quarterly board meeting late next month. The central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate for fourth successive quarters as it tries to head off inflation pressure. Consumer prices increased 2.4 percent from a year earlier last month, matching the gain of the previous month, an Aug. 5 government report showed. The central bank said June 30 that inflation may exceed the government's forecast of 1.7 percent this year.
■ Ministry to help companies
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will send experts to help domestic small- and medium-sized companies to conform with the EU's environmentally friendly regulations to improve the nation's competitiveness, an official said Tuesday. According to the official, many countries and multinational enterprises have begun to create legislation or map out strategies to conform with the EU's directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and its directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in Electrical and Electronic Equipment to explore trade opportunities in that region. Under these guidelines, companies all over the world are required to supply non-hazardous and energy-saving equipment which can be recycled, the official stressed. But according to a survey conducted by the ministry, 37 percent of Taiwanese manufacturers are still not in compliance.
■ Phone virus on the loose
Anti-virus software maker Trend Micro Inc yesterday announced a warning to a cellphone virus SYMBOS_SKULLS.N, which will paralyze the infected cellphones. The targeting cellphone models include Nokia 3650, 3600, 3660, 3620, 6600, 6620, 7610, 7650, Nokia N-Gage, Panasonic X700, Sendo X, and Siemens SX1. Recently an e-mail claims to provide free anti-virus software for cellphones and ask users to download a software named "F-Secure_Anti-Virus_NEW_SymbianOS6 Symbian." But after users downloaded it, they will see a heart shape in the screens and then the cellphones will constantly reboot themselves.
■ Bank has received bids
Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀), a lender 44 percent owned by the government, said it received takeover bids from other financial companies in a government plan to sell state holdings to accelerate an industry consolidation. "The process is under way and our financial adviser has started collecting bids," Executive Vice President Lee Chun-sheng (李俊昇) said in a telephone interview. He declined to comment on a Chinese-language newspaper report yesterday that Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) and Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) submitted bids.
■ Good show for NT dollar
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against its US counterpart, advancing NT$0.034 to close at NT$31.929 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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