The New Taiwan dollar yesterday declined 0.78 percent, or NT$0.253, in Taipei trading to close at NT$32.621 against the US dollar, deeper than other currencies in the region, central bank figures showed.
The fall represented a six-year low and came after the government on Friday cut its forecast for GDP growth this year by more than half to 1.56 percent, from 3.28 percent in May.
Combined turnover on the Taipei Foreign Exchange and Cosmos Foreign Exchange markets amounted to US$1.36 billion, a relatively moderate volume.
RAISING COMPETITION
“The local currency might soon drop below the NT$33 level as the central bank is likely seeking to catch up with major trade rivals in raising export competitiveness,” a currency trader at a local bank said by telephone.
The South Korean won lost 0.77 percent yesterday, while the Singaporean dollar weakened 0.38 percent and the Japanese yen retreated 0.13 percent.
The Chinese yuan closed down 0.04 percent, one week after the People’s Bank of China lowered its fixing guidance by 1.9 percent, jolting foreign exchange markets across the world.
“The NT dollar depreciation is reasonable and practical in light of the nation’s negative inflationary reading, allowing the central bank room for monetary easing to support economic growth,” the trader said.
Exports are now projected to contract for the year, dragged down by a global slowdown and growing competition from Chinese technology firms, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
SUPPORT
The NT dollar might find support at NT$35 as seen during the global financial crisis, the trader said.
However, exporters have called for a weaker NT dollar, with some suggesting a benchmark of NT$36 to help them compete with Chinese rivals.
The NT dollar opened at NT$32.435 and fluctuated between NT$32.170 and NT$32.530 during the session.
In a related development, a cheaper yuan made the currency less attractive among Taiwanese as yuan deposits saw a monthly retreat of 0.47 percent for the first time to 336.65 billion yuan last month, the central bank said yesterday.
TRIMMING
Deposits at domestic banking units totaled 282.92 billion yuan last month, down 0.16 percent from one month earlier, while deposits at offshore banking units shed 0.2 percent to 53.73 billion yuan, the central bank said.
It is the first time both Taiwanese companies and individuals trimmed yuan holdings, attributable mainly to higher risk awareness, a central bank official said, adding that local banks refrained from offering high interest rates to encourage yuan deposits.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy