Asian currencies slumped this week, led by Singapore’s dollar, on concern slowing global growth will curb demand for the region’s assets.
Singapore’s currency posted its biggest weekly loss in a decade after the Straits Times newspaper cited Singaporean Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam as saying the economy is moving toward a slowdown and growth is unlikely to rebound “any time soon.”
Nine of the 10 most-active Asian currencies outside of Japan fell this week.
“Tharman’s dovish comments confirm expectations that the central bank won’t be seeking any further policy tightening,” said Emmanuel Ng, economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp in Singapore.
The Singapore dollar weakened as much as 2.3 percent this week to S$1.4014 against the US currency in Singapore, the biggest loss since the five days ended June 26, 1998, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The New Taiwan dollar had its biggest weekly loss in more than two years on speculation slowing global economic growth will curb demand for consumer electronics produced by the nation’s exporters.
The currency fell for a ninth day, the longest losing streak since July 2005, after a government report on Thursday showed shipments grew last month at less than half the pace forecast by economists. Taiwan’s GDP may expand 4.78 percent this year, the slowest since 2005, a statistics bureau forecast released in May said.
“The Taiwan dollar is finding it difficult to fight the strong US dollar trend that’s happening in the whole region,” said Philip Wee, a currency strategist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd in Singapore. “Europe and Japan are all showing negative growth numbers, and the Asian region is seeing declining GDP.”
The NT dollar fell 1.5 percent this week to NT$31.090 against the US currency, Taipei Forex Inc figures show.
Taiwan’s export growth slowed to 8 percent last month from 21.3 percent in June, the government reported. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey forecast overseas sales, which account for about half of the island’s GDP, would increase 17.1 percent.
The Philippine peso lost 0.3 percent this week to 44.335, Indonesia’s rupiah dropped 0.8 percent to 9,170 and Thailand’s baht declined 0.5 percent to 33.70. Vietnam’s dong advanced 1.2 percent this week to 16,550.
The ringgit fell 1.2 percent this week to 3.3015 against the US dollar, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The currency, which started the year at 3.3070, has declined for a sixth straight day, the longest run since October 2006.
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