The government will take a more progressive approach in liberalizing financial regulations to boost the economy and stimulate the stock market, Council of Economic Planning and Development Chairman Chen Tain-jy (陳添枝) said yesterday.
Chen made the announcement after the weekly meeting of a Cabinet task force on commodity price stabilization convened by Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄).
“The new government has to reflect humbly on whether its economic opening policy fell short of the expectations of investors after it assumed office, as a result of which they took some action [to sell their shares],” Chen told a press conference.
The weighted index of the Taipei stock market yesterday closed at 7,855, a drop of 1,213 points, or 13.37 percent, from 9,068 points when the new government took office on May 20.
“Although the Taipei stock market had a relatively good performance earlier this year in comparison with markets in other countries, stock prices in May are slumping badly,” Chen said.
He said the new government had not taken any measures to halt the stock market plunge because it had to first determine the causes of the drop.
Chen blamed the stock market fall on the overall decline of the global markets and a retreat by foreign investors.
“The fundamentals of the market shares are basically good, but foreign investors may think that the government is slow in implementing an open economic policy,” he said.
Chen said the government has exchanged ideas with US, EU and Australian business associations and they all suggested the government speed up the liberalization of financial services including banking, insurance, stocks and bonds, and private funds.
“Nevertheless, foreign investors still considered the dropping Taipei stock exchange a potential market, or they wouldn’t have expected us to be more positive about financial liberalization. We should grasp the opportunity to turn the country into an important financial center,” he said.
Chen said that the government would continue to stabilize commodity prices, as price increases could negatively affect the economy.
Yeh Huey-ching (葉惠青), director-general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Energy, said yesterday that the recent hike in fuel prices has had a positive effect on curbing energy consumption.
After prices were frozen for six months, the government allowed the state-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油), the nation’s biggest oil refiner, to raise its unleaded gasoline prices by 13 percent and diesel prices by 16 percent from May 28.
Sales of gasoline dropped 11.7 percent last month, while those for diesel declined by 21.5 percent, in comparison with March, when Formosa Petrochemical Corporation raised its prices of gasoline and diesel, Yeh said.
“Compared with the same time last year, the number of commuters taking the [Taipei] mass rapid transit system between June 1 and June 15 increased by 9.7 percent, and the number of commuters taking buses in the period rose by 4.5 percent,” Yeh said.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS