■ FTC fines banks
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday slapped fines of NT$3.1 million (US$94,200) on three financial institutions for attaching inappropriate loan clauses, which it said was a violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).
The FTC meted out penalties of NT$1 million to E.Sun Bank (玉山銀行), NT$1.1 million to Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行), and NT$1 million to Jih Sun International Bank (日盛國際商銀).
The FTC also demanded that the banks immediately remove the offending clauses or the FTC said the companies could face heavier fines of up to NT$50 million.
■ Taiwan balances finances
With the income from a securities exchange transaction tax surging significantly, the government achieved financial balance last year for the first time since 1999, the head of the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Hsu Jan-yau (許璋瑤), said yesterday.
With a bullish stock market, the government pocketed NT$89.9 billion in securities-exchange transaction tax last year, up by 31.9 percent from a year ago, Hsu said.
Along with NT$334.3 billion from income tax and NT$311.8 billion from business and other taxes, tax revenue last year was estimated to reach NT$1.59 trillion, which was NT$125 billion more than the government budget, he said.
Hsu added that this was also the second consecutive year that the government had seen tax revenue exceed the NT$1 trillion mark.
"It shows Taiwan's economic outlook is positive," he said.
If the special budget is figured in, however, there was a NT$80 billion deficit last year, Hsu added. ■ NT dollar up The New Taiwan dollar increased against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, gaining NT$0.082 to close at NT$32.908. A total of US$1.19 billion changed hands during the day's trading.
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