The nation’s foreign exchange reserves rose to US$399.22 billion as of the end of last month, marking their highest level since August last year, on the back of returns from foreign exchange reserves management, the central bank said yesterday.
The jump represented an increase of US$1.26 billion from US$397.95 billion in foreign exchange reserves at the end of September, and was also the third consecutive monthly rise, the bank said in its monthly report.
“The main factor behind the increase was investment returns,” said Lin Sun-yuan (林孫源), director-general of the bank’s department of foreign exchange.
In addition, net inflows from foreign portfolio investors totaled US$790 million last month, helping maintain the level of foreign exchange reserves, Lin added.
Foreign exchange reserves form a significant part of the nation’s safety net against global financial crises and market volatility since the nation is not a member of either the IMF or the World Bank and cannot rely on these organizations or their member countries for financial aid.
With the latest data, Taiwan safeguarded its position of holding the world’s fourth-largest foreign exchange reserves, behind China, Japan and Russia.
So far this year, the country’s foreign exchange reserves have increased by US$13.67 billion from the end of December last year.
China’s foreign exchange reserves expanded to US$3.285 trillion at the end of September, while Japan and Russia’s foreign exchange reserves stood at US$1.198 trillion and US$463 billion during the same period respectively, according to the statistics provided by the central bank.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last