The US dollar weakened to US$1.50 per euro for the first time in 14 months as more evidence of a recovery in the global economy from recession increased demand for higher-yielding assets.
The dollar fell 0.7 percent in the past week to US$1.5008 per euro, from US$1.4905 last Friday. The US currency touched US$1.50 on Wednesday for the first time since August last year.
The yen declined 1.3 percent to ¥92.06 versus the dollar, from ¥90.89, in its biggest decline since August. Japan’s currency depreciated 2 percent to ¥138.15 per euro, compared with ¥135.48 a week earlier.
The pound fell 1 percent this week to £0.9202 per euro after the UK’s economy unexpectedly contracted, fueling speculation that the Bank of England will increase its £175 billion (US$286 billion) program to buy bonds.
Asian currencies fell in the past week, with the South Korean won and the Philippine peso both sliding the most in more than four months, on speculation policy makers will limit currency gains to support exports.
The won was at 1,181.25 per dollar on Friday, 1.5 percent lower than last Friday. The currency rose in each of the previous eight weeks and reached 1,155.05 on Oct. 15, the strongest level in a year. The peso declined 0.8 percent this week to 46.995 and Indonesia’s rupiah slid 0.4 percent to 9,435, paring this year’s advance to 16 percent.
The yuan has dropped 8.6 percent from a record high on March 9 against the currencies of major trading partners including the euro and the Japanese yen, a Westpac Banking Corp index shows. It has weakened 16 percent versus the rupiah and 14 percent against the won during the past six months.
The New Taiwan dollar fell 0.3 percent in the past week to NT$32.398 versus the greenback.
Elsewhere, India’s rupee declined 0.5 percent in the week to 46.52 against the US dollar. Thailand’s baht and the Chinese yuan were little changed at 33.43 and 6.8286.
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)
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