The postal savings fund will not be used to invest in Chinese markets, Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said yesterday.
“We have stopped considering this option. It will not happen during my term [as minister],” he said at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was scheduled to review Chunghwa Post Co’s budget for next fiscal year.
Last month, the state-run postal company announced plans to amend the Management Measures for Investing Postal Savings in Bonds and Bills (郵政儲金投資債券票券管理辦法) as well as the Management Measures for Investing in Beneficiary Certificates and Public Offering Stocks (郵政儲金投資受益憑證及上市(櫃)股票管理辦法) to allow it to invest in Chinese stocks, bonds and other financial products.
With the postal savings fund topping NT$5 trillion (US$158.3 billion), Chunghwa Post has proposed that it be permitted to invest up to three-fifths of its net asset value.
However, the proposal has drawn public criticism, with some netizens threatening to withdraw all their postal savings.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said that the Financial Supervisory Commission and international credit institutions have warned about the high risks of investing in China.
Noting that some state-owned Chinese banks are floundering because of their large credit exposure, Lee asked if the postal firm wanted to risk losing the funds of 20 million postal savings account holders.
In response, Chunghwa Post chairman Philip Weng (翁文祺) said the company has stopped pushing the proposed amendments after taking the risks and the opinions of experts into consideration.
In related news, about 4,000 entry-level postal service workers can soon expect a pay raise of about 7 percent following negotiations with the postal workers’ union, Weng said.
Entry-level workers at the Taiwan Railways Administration will also enjoy a salary increase of 3 to 6 percent, the railway operator said.
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