■ Xbox360 price to be cut
Gaming fans will benefit from the newly adjusted pricing of Xbox 360, as Microsoft Taiwan Corp announced yesterday that it would slash the price of the video game console by up to NT$1,000. In a move to reflect currency changes, the retail price of Xbox 360 will be reduced to NT$12,980 from the earlier announced NT$13,888, the company said in a statement. For those who have paid to pre-order the machines, whose local debut has been postponed by two week to March 16 due to shipment shortages in the US and Europe, they can get their refund from the resellers, according to Microsoft Taiwan. The software giant has beefed up the production capacity of Xbox 360 to cope with global demand, which it estimates will reach 4.5 million to 5.5 million units by the end of June. Meanwhile, its rival product, PlayStation 3 from Sony Corp, is scheduled to be available sometime this year. Details on local availability and pricing have yet to be announced.
■ Lotto drawings to be increased
Lottery-lovers may be thrilled to hear that Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行), its official issuer, plans to hold drawings of public welfare lotteries daily from Monday to Friday starting March 29 at the earliest in a bid to boost sales.
Wednesday would be the new lucky day. This is the first time the bank plans to adjust lotto-drawing days since it started issuing lotto tickets more than four years ago. The bank plans to hold draws for Lotto (樂透彩) and picking-six-numbers-out-of-38 lottos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday; drawings for Big Lotto (大樂透) and picking-six-numbers-out-of-49 lottos every Tuesday and Thursday; and drawings for the Three-Star Lotto (三星彩) and Four-Star Lotto (四星彩) from Monday to Friday.
The Ministry of Finance said it does not oppose this idea but has required the bank to conduct surveys to gauge public reaction.
■ Consumer prices up in January
Taiwan's consumer prices rose for the second month in five in January, adding pressure on the central bank to lift interest rates this quarter.
The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.03 percent from December, the statistics bureau said in a statement in Taipei today.
Inflation topped government forecasts last year, even as the central bank raised borrowing costs for a sixth straight quarter in December. Bank deposit rates that offer negative returns may prompt the central bank to boost interest rates again at its next meeting in March.
From a year earlier and without seasonal adjustments, consumer prices climbed 2.65 percent last month.
■ Officials to visit OECD
Two senior officials of the Fair Trade Commission will represent Taiwan on Thursday at a peer review session of the Paris-based OECD Global Forum on Competition, officials said on Sunday.
FTC chairman Hwang Tzong-leh (黃宗樂) and commission member Wang Wen-yu (王文宇) said they are honored to represent Taiwan at the Paris meeting, which is aimed at helping the country adopt the best paradigms in policy making so that it can abide by international norms and standards.
■ NT dollar weakens
The US dollar rose slightly against the New Taiwan dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, gaining NT$0.001 to close at NT$32.095.
A total of US$811 million changed hands during the day's trading.
The US currency opened at NT$32.145 and fluctuated between NT$32.045 and NT$32.149.
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