■ Futures tax cut proposed
The Cabinet has proposed slashing the transaction tax for futures trading to boost the six-year-old market. The Cabinet wants to cut the transaction tax for stock futures contracts to 0.01 percent to 0.06 percent from 0.025 percent to 0.15 percent, it said. It also wants to lower the tax for options or futures options contracts to 0.1 percent to 0.6 percent from 0.125 percent to 0.75 percent. Taiwan's futures trading totaled 59.1 million lots last year, up 85 percent from 31.9 million lots in 2003, according to the Web site of the Taiwan Futures Exchange. The proposed tax changes need the legislature's approval.
■ China-bound investment dips
Approved investment in China by Taiwanese businessmen in the first quarter showed a decline in terms of the number of investment projects and the total monetary value, according to the latest tallies released by the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday. The figures show that the number of approved investment projects was 289 in the first three months, down 47.83 percent from the same period of last year, while the total investment amount approved was US$1.27 billion, down 6.57 percent from last year.
■ NT dollar up
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.06 to close at NT$31.513 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$954 million, up from US$800 million the previous day.
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