The euro tumbled for a second week against the US dollar, falling to its lowest level in more than four years as concern that Europe’s debt crisis is spreading pushed investors to the safest currencies.
Europe’s shared currency plunged below US$1.20 for the first time since March 2006 and dropped for a sixth straight week versus the yen. The US dollar and the yen climbed as a lower-than-forecast payrolls report on Friday fueled concern the US economic recovery may be slowing, damping demand for growth-linked currencies. US retail sales growth slowed to 0.2 percent last month, data next week may show.
“There’s one driver of the market, and it’s called Europe,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co in New York. “Will budget cuts hurt European growth? Will Europe’s crisis hurt US companies? Will contagion spread through the global financial system?”
The euro dropped 2.5 percent to US$1.1967 in New York, from US$1.2273 on May 28. It touched US$1.1956, the lowest level since March 2006. The euro fell 1.6 percent to ¥109.98, the biggest drop in three weeks, from ¥111.77. The US dollar gained 0.9 percent to ¥91.90, from ¥91.06 the previous week.
Hungary is in a “grave situation” because the previous government “lied” about the economy, Peter Szijjarto, a spokesman for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said on Friday. Hungary, whose forint tumbled 4 percent on Friday versus the US dollar, needed a US$24 billion bailout to avert default in 2008.
The euro has fallen 9.2 percent this year versus its developed-world counterparts, Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes show.
The pound rose for a second week against the euro as reports signaled the country’s economic recovery is gathering pace while the 16 economies that share the single currency falter amid the sovereign debt crisis.
The pound rose 0.4 percent to £0.8288 per euro as of 5pm on Friday, leaving it 2.4 percent stronger in the week. Against the US dollar, it lost 0.3 percent on Friday to US$1.4564, paring its weekly gain to 0.8 percent.
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