FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Devaluation supported
Domestic business leaders yesterday sounded their support for the continuation of “defensive currency devaluation” to boost the nation’s lagging exports as the New Taiwan dollar plunged to NT$33.453 against the US dollar, the weakest in about six-and-a-half years. Chinese National Federation of Industries (全國工業總會) secretary-general Tsai Lien-sheng (蔡練生) said that the drop was appropriate and applauded the central bank’s decision, while urging regulators to further weaken the currency to NT$33.5 against the greenback. Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (台灣機械工業同業公會) chairman Alex Ko (柯拔希) also proposed that the local currency be devalued to a range between NT$34 and NT$36 against the dollar.
REAL ESTATE
DTZ forecasts downturn
Taipei properties may be at the beginning of an eight-year downturn, said Billy Yen (顏炳立), Taipei-based general manager of DTZ, a global real-estate service provider yesterday. He said that the real-estate market is expected to remain tepid this year, with luxury home prices in prime areas anticipated to fall by 10 percent, while homes in less desirable districts may fall 15 percent. Sellers may have to offer a steeper discount of up to 30 percent before prospective buyers return to the market, he said.
GARMENTS
Makalot sales rise 11.8%
Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽), a garment manufacturer for global clothing brands, yesterday reported that sales throughout last year rose 11.8 percent to NT$23.36 billion, a new record high. Looking ahead, the company said that its production will be running at near-capacity in the first quarter, and 40 percent of capacity for the second quarter has been filled. In addition, the company is to benefit from additional growth momentum as major US brands, such as Gap and Old Navy, launch their respective sports apparel lines.
BANKING
Banks face TRF exposure
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday said that domestic banks are facing increasing exposure to yuan-denominated target redemption forwards (TRF) amid a sharp tumble in the strength of the Chinese currency. With contract prices of most TRFs set at a range between 6.3 yuan to 6.5 yuan against the US dollar, domestic banks selling the derivative instrument are facing NT$200 billion in total refundable deposit exposure this month, the commission said. A second TRF crisis since August last year may be on the horizon, the commission said. Banks are required to raise their refundable deposits against possible defaults of TRFs held by their clients. The yuan yesterday fell as low as 6.5 against the greenback.
HOSPITALITY
Occupancy rates fall 2.7%
In the January-to-November period of last year, Taipei’s hotel and lodging occupancy rate declined for the first time in five years, CBRE Taiwan said yesterday. The figure dropped 2.7 percent year-on-year to 74.9 percent, the local branch of the US property consultancy said. Despite the decline, the company found that lodging capacity and room prices had risen 3.3 percent to 110,000 rooms and 0.7 percent to NT$4,532 per night respectively. The company advised hotel operators to differentiate themselves by offering distinctive dining experiences to attract more consumers.
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