The Ministry of Economic Affairs is planning a comprehensive price-making mechanism for utilities by year's end before possible markups for water and electricity rates come into force, incoming Ministry of Economic Affairs Vice Minister Hou Ho-hsiung (
"We hope to unveil thorough price-making formulas and a reassessment of water and electricity rates and gasoline prices by the end of this year," Hou said on the sidelines of his inauguration ceremony yesterday.
The ministry has asked the state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC,
"Oil prices are a more urgent issue," Hou said when asked about the state oil refiner's possible price hike. "In the meantime, the ministry will continue monitoring the movement of the price of crude oil, which has declined recently."
The price of CPC oil has been much lower than skyrocketing crude-oil prices but has still been profitable, Hou said, adding that the ministry was seeking to balance the firm's profitability in an environment of rising costs and public expectations.
The refinery created pre-tax income of NT$16.2 billion (US$500 million) in the first seven months of this year, way ahead of its regulatory pre-tax income of NT$14.9 billion for this year, according to figures from the ministry's Enterprise Commission.
Hou, 61, yesterday formally replaced Yin Chi-ming (
With his expertise in water-resources engineering, Hou will oversee water resources-related units -- the Water Resources Agency and Taiwan Water Corp (
Hou will have to deal with thorny issues such as adjustments to gasoline and electricity rates, water supply from the Shihmen Reservoir in Taoyuan and the proposed eight-year NT$80 billion flood-control bill.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said. In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light.
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