Asian currencies posted a weekly gain, led by the South Korean won, on signs the government wants the exchange rate to strengthen after record oil prices pushed inflation to the fastest in seven years.
The won completed the best week this month after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the government would focus on stabilizing inflation. The won was the best performer this week of the 10 most-active currencies in Asia outside Japan after traders said the central bank bought the currency to stem a three-month slide.
The ringgit snapped a three-week losing streak as crude oil dipped on Friday to the lowest in a week.
The won rose 1.3 percent this week to 1,028 per US dollar in Seoul, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd. The ringgit gained 0.5 percent from a week earlier to 3.2595 and the Singapore dollar climbed 1 percent over the past five days to S$1.3660.
Indonesia’s rupiah rose 0.6 percent this week to 9,259 per dollar in Jakarta, the most since the five-days ended April 11, on optimism the central bank’s interest-rate increase will help cool inflation and restore investor confidence.
Elsewhere, the New Taiwan dollar climbed 0.2 percent to NT$30.382 this week and the Philippine peso gained 0.1 percent to 44.36 to halt a nine-week slide.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique