Asian currencies declined this week, led by South Korea’s won, on speculation record oil prices will dampen growth in Asia and prompt overseas funds to sell assets.
The won had its biggest weekly loss in a month as South Korean Finance Minister Kang Man-soo said the country faced mounting difficulties stemming from surging oil prices, with crude trading near a record US$139.12 a barrel. Six of the 10 most-traded Asian currencies outside of Japan fell this week.
South Korea’s currency fell 1.7 percent this week to 1,041 against the US dollar as of the 3pm close in Seoul on Friday, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd. The won has dropped 10.1 percent versus the dollar this year, the second-worst performer in the region.
The New Taiwan dollar fell 0.4 percent to NT$30.451 against the US currency this week.
Singapore’s dollar lost 1.1 percent to S$1.3791, while Indonesia’s rupiah traded little changed at 9,313.
Malaysia’s ringgit fell for a third week on concern investors will sell local assets as the government braces for public protests against its fuel-price increase.
The ringgit traded at 3.277 per US dollar compared with 3.2585 last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Philippine peso rose 0.2 percent to 44.4 per US dollar on Friday, according to Tullett Prebon PLC.
It has dropped 0.8 percent in the past five trading sessions, rounding off its ninth weekly loss.
The peso may fall to 45.80 next quarter as investors lose confidence in the nation’s ability to manage its budget, JPMorgan Chase & Co said.
Elsewhere, the Vietnamese dong slumped 2.1 percent this week to 16,620 as the central bank set a 2 percent weaker reference rate on June 11 to curb currency speculation.
Thailand’s baht lost 0.2 percent to 33.21 per dollar.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)