South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said stabilizing consumer prices would be his “top priority” and his government would “get rid of factors” in the financial and foreign exchange markets that are boosting inflation.
“I will do my utmost to revive the economy, a task which was entrusted to me,” Lee said in a speech delivered at the National Assembly in Seoul yesterday. “The government will gradually get rid of factors in the financial and foreign exchange markets that are putting upward pressure on prices.”
A surge in oil prices and food costs drove up the nation’s consumer prices at the fastest pace in almost a decade and prompted the government to trim its growth estimate to 4.7 percent this year from 6 percent. In an attempt to slow the decline in the won, which lost 12 percent versus the US dollar this year through July 4, the government and the central bank announced steps to stem the currency’s decline on Monday.
“The government is very serious about containing inflation,” said Go You-sun, economist at Daewoo Securities Co in Seoul. “President Lee’s administration will do all it can to stabilize prices, before seeking stronger economic growth.”
Lee yesterday repeated his promises to create more jobs and urged companies to expand investment into their factories.
“I pledged to create more jobs through growth, injecting vitality into the sagging economy,” Lee said. “But it should be noted that the situation is very difficult now, just like rowing a boat against the current of the river.”
He said the government planned to provide measures to help people who have been discouraged from receiving financial services due to credit records.
“Under the New Start 2008 Project, a measure has been put in place to bail out 1.28 million people from financial trouble,” Lee said. “We will implement various additional measures that will help 7.8 million financial delinquents.”
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)