Asian currencies declined for a second week, led by South Korea’s won and the Indian rupee, on concern tighter credit in China will curb spending in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks Asia’s 10 most-used currencies excluding the yen, this week reached its lowest level in a month as the Shanghai Composite Index of shares dropped 2.8 percent.
The won dropped 0.9 percent from the end of last week to 1,249.85 per dollar in Seoul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The rupee lost 0.7 percent to 48.605 and the Indonesian rupiah slid 0.6 percent to 10,015.
The New Taiwan dollar rose 0.2 percent on Friday to NT$32.906 after second-quarter GDP figures showed Taiwan is recovering from a recession. The economy contracted 7.5 percent from a year earlier, less than the 10.1 percent recorded for the first quarter and the 7.8 percent forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey. The NT dollar was little changed this week.
The Philippine peso was little changed in offshore trading as local markets were shut for a holiday on Friday. The currency slumped 0.8 percent this week, the most in two months, after the government on Wednesday reported a budget deficit of 188 billion pesos (US$3.9 billion) for the last seven months, equivalent to 75 percent of its full-year projection.
Elsewhere, Thailand’s baht was little changed for the week at 34.01 per US dollar and the Chinese yuan was at 6.8312, having barely moved from 6.8342 last Friday. Malaysia’s ringgit gained 0.1 percent to 3.5125.
The US dollar and yen fell against the majority of their most-traded counterparts as US housing and manufacturing reports signaled that the economy is recovering from recession, easing demand for the currencies as a refuge.
The euro also rose on the week against the dollar and yen as German services and French manufacturing unexpectedly expanded this month.
The greenback slumped 0.9 percent to US$1.4326 per euro on Friday from US$1.4203 on Aug. 14, while also dropping more than 1 percent against the South African rand, Swedish krona, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc. The yen fell 0.3 percent to ¥135.21 per euro, from ¥134.84 last week. Japan’s currency also declined versus the rand, krona and franc. The dollar fell 0.6 percent this week to ¥94.38.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index climbed to 4.2 from minus 7.5 last month, the bank said on Thursday. Positive readings signal an expansion. The leading US economic indicators rose last month for a fourth consecutive month, the Conference Board reported separately the same day.
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
‘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)
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite