The New Taiwan dollar declined for a 10th day, the longest losing streak since December 2001, on concern slowing global growth is crimping demand for the nation’s exports.
The currency extended last week’s drop, which was the biggest since May 2006, as a government report last week showed exports last month grew at less than half the pace forecast by economists.
Taiwan reported its first trade deficit since February 2006 as a housing slump and financial turmoil slowed expansion in the US, its second-biggest export market after China.
“Taiwan is particularly vulnerable to slowing external demand,” said Callum Henderson, head of currency strategy at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore.
The NT dollar “is under significant pressure lately and is likely to remain so,” he said.
The NT dollar weakened as much as 0.5 percent to NT$31.245 versus the US currency before trading at NT$31.148 as of 11:15am in Taipei, Taipei FOREX Inc showed.
Export growth fell to 8 percent last month from 21.3 percent in June, the government said last Friday.
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