US beef serial numbers coming
The Bureau of Foreign Trade is scheduled to unveil a set of import serial numbers for selected US beef byproducts today, Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) said yesterday.
The six selected cattle parts are cattle bone marrow, blood, meat attached to the skull, gullet muscles, cheek meats and fat, Deng said.
Deng said that after announcing the serial numbers, the ministry would wait for 30 days for the public to express its opinion on the matter before deciding whether or not to officially allow the selected cattle parts to be imported from the US.
EVA to book losses on crude oil
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), the nation’s No. 2 airline, yesterday said it would book about NT$2.42 billion (US$76.95 million) in unrealized losses from crude oil forward contracts to hedge against oil price volatility.
EVA blamed a significant reduction in global crude oil prices for the loss. The company will book actual losses or profit when those contracts close in the future, it said.
However, weak crude oil prices would also help cut the company’s expenses, EVA said.
Separately, EVA said it plans to recruit a total of 500 new employees this year, including 400 flight attendants, as route expansion has driven up human resource needs.
The 500 new employees would begin working between June and August, the airline said in a statement.
EVA hired about 700 employees last year from more than 22,000 applicants — an indication that the airline industry is popular with young people, the statement said.
EVA also said that it would continue to accept applications for pilot positions throughout the year.
Yuan deposits hit record high
Yuan deposits gained 2.6 percent to reach a record of 310.2 billion yuan (US$49.6 billion) last month from December last year, as banks offered generous interest rates to boost yuan holdings, the central bank said yesterday.
The latest figures represented an increase of 10.06 billion yuan, the first increase of such a scale in nine months, with domestic banking units contributing the most gains, the central bank said.
Yuan deposits at offshore banking units slowed to a four-month low of 53.04 billion yuan last month, while yuan remittance contracted 59.5 billion yuan to 259.5 billion yuan, the central bank said.
The central bank attributed the monthly decline to a high base in December last year, during which firms with operations in China tended to settle yuan accounts.
Official sets prosperity target
If China wants to become a moderately prosperous society, it will have to grow at a minimum of 6.5 percent per year economically during the next five-year plan that runs from next year to 2020, a National Development and Reform Commission official has said.
Department of Development Planning Director Xu Lin (徐林) gave the estimate on the sidelines of the Chinese Economy 50 Forum’s annual conference on Saturday.
The benchmark for becoming a moderately prosperous society referred to by Xu is the “two doublings” set at the 18th CPC National Congress in November 2012, which call for doubling 2010 GDP and urban and rural per capita income by 2020.
China’s economic growth last year was 7.4 percent, its lowest in 24 years.
NT dollar slides to NT$31.600
The New Taiwan dollar weakened against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.125 to close at NT$31.60, as the central bank’s intervention helped the US currency fend off downward pressure resulting from further foreign fund inflows into the nation, dealers said.
The central bank’s presence also reduced impact from rising seasonal demand for the NT dollar ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Thursday and runs through Monday, they said.
Turnover totaled US$736 million.
Before the central bank intervened, the strength of other regional currencies led by the South Korean won, which the NT dollar tracked closely, gave traders additional indications to raise their holdings in regional currencies, dealers said.
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