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.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS