Taiwan’s financial institutions expect the central bank to leave policy rates unchanged for a sixth straight quarter at its board meeting tomorrow, but plan to pay close attention to its stance on the property market.
Local financial holding companies, banks, life insurers and securities houses all shared the view that the central bank would keep the rediscount rate at 1.125 percent, saying Taiwan’s economy is not overheating and inflation is not uncontrollable.
The central bank, which on June 17 predicted GDP growth of 5.08 percent for this year, has a fair chance of revising its forecast upward, as Taiwan’s exports continue to outperform, they said.
Photo: Reuters
The nation’s headline consumer prices climbed 2.36 percent last month, more than the 2 percent alert, as bad weather drove up vegetable and fruit prices, but the core consumer price index, a more reliable long-term price tracker, registered a 1.33 percent increase after volatile items were excluded.
The nation’s top monetary policymaker has said that it is better to stay put until other major central banks raise their interest rates to avoid inflating the local currency.
Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) has said that the US Federal Reserve would likely taper its money-printing program later this year, but it might hold its policy rates steady for another year to support the economy.
He would halt tightened credit controls for the housing market, which took a hit from COVID-19 containment measures from May to July, Yang has said.
However, developers and brokers have predicted a quick recovery from this month, as local COVID-19 infections have declined.
The potential collapse of major Chinese property developer Evergrande Group (恆大集團) could send a sobering message about potential property bubbles, analysts said.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS