The euro dropped for a second week against the US dollar to a five-week low as weaker economic data and calls by a European Central Bank (ECB) official for more economic aid damped investor appetite for higher-yielding currencies.
The euro reached a seven-week low against the Swiss franc after ECB council member Axel Weber on Thursday told Bloomberg Television the central bank should assist financial institutions to prevent year-end liquidity tensions.
The US dollar and yen rose against most of their major counterparts as data indicated the global economic recovery may be faltering.
The Japanese finance minister is set to meet the prime minister in the week ahead to discuss the nation’s currency.
The euro fell 0.3 percent to US$1.2712 in New York from US$1.2754 in the five days ended Aug. 13. It touched US$1.2673 on Friday, the weakest since July 13. Japan’s currency dropped 1 percent to ¥108.83 per euro from ¥109.92 last week in New York, after reaching ¥108.31, the strongest since July 1.
The euro sank 2 percent to SF1.3143 from SF1.3408 a week ago, after touching SF1.3140. The yen rose 0.7 percent to ¥85.62 per US dollar. The Canadian dollar rose 0.4 percent to C$1.0475.
The pound fell versus the US dollar and yen on Friday and two-year UK government bond yields reached a record low as concern that the global economic recovery is slowing boosted demand for the safest assets.
The British currency declined 0.7 percent to US$1.5487 and dropped 0.2 percent against the Swiss franc to SF1.6071 as of 4:25pm in London on Friday. It slipped 0.3 percent to ¥132.83. The pound rose 0.4 percent against the euro to £0.8184.
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