Taiwan would emerge unscathed from China’s retaliatory actions to protest US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, top monetary and financial officials said yesterday.
Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) shrugged off unease over potential instability in the foreign exchange and stock markets after foreign portfolio funds trimmed their holdings of local shares for two straight days amid Beijing’s threats of retaliation.
“There is no need to worry,” Yang said on the sidelines of an event to celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of Central American Bank for Economic Integration’s (CABEI) Taipei office and the 30th anniversary of Taiwan becoming a member of CABEI.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Taiwan has sufficient foreign exchange reserves to rein in unexpected and abnormal developments, Yang said when asked to comment on the currency market.
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday closed up 0.06 percent at NT$29.990 versus the US dollar in Taipei trading amid a normal trading volume of US$926 million.
Yang said the recent selling of local shares by foreign institutional players was “typical” for this time of the year.
Foreign portfolio managers tend to wire cash dividends abroad in August, putting depreciation pressure on the NT dollar.
Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) said China’s ban on imports of citrus fruit and two types of fish from Taiwan would have a very limited effect on the nation’s overall export figures.
China’s customs agency on Monday night imposed temporary import bans on more than 100 Taiwanese food brands, including I-Mei Foods Co (義美食品), Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品) and Kuo Yuan Ye Foods Co (郭元益食品).
China and Hong Kong accounted for 25 percent of processed food exports in the first six months of this year, down from 43 percent in previous years, as local suppliers expanded export markets, Su told reporters at the CABEI event.
Processed food bound for the two markets amounted to US$240 million a year, or only 0.1 percent of total exports, Su said.
Similarly, China’s suspension of natural sand exports to Taiwan would cause little inconvenience, as local construction projects rely mostly on domestically sourced sand, Su said, adding that most China-sourced sand is sea sand that cannot be used in construction projects.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan said in a statement that it appreciated the extra support and interest from US officials in backing Taiwan.
While official visits carry important symbolic meaning, the chamber’s 71-year history has demonstrated how the peaceful pursuit of commerce contributes to prosperity and innovation on a regional and global level, the chamber said.
“We believe that further investment in the US-Taiwan economic relationship remains the best course to ensure the continuation of this progress,” it said.
The US and Taiwan are uniquely equipped to tackle challenges and opportunities, from public health, semiconductors, digital, and supply chain resilience to the development of sustainable sources of energy and talent, it said.
The seizure of one of the largest known mercury shipments in history, moving from mines in Mexico to illegal Amazon gold mining zones, exposes the wide use of the toxic metal in the rainforest, according to authorities. Peru’s customs agency, SUNAT, found 4 tonnes of illegal mercury in Lima’s port district of Callao, according to a report by the non-profit Environmental Investigations Agency (EIA). “This SUNAT intervention has prevented this chemical from having a serious impact on people’s health and the environment, as can be seen in several areas of the country devastated by the illegal use of mercury and illicit activities,”
NEW PRODUCTS: MediaTek plans to roll out new products this quarter, including a flagship mobile phone chip and a GB10 chip that it is codeveloping with Nvidia Corp MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday projected that revenue this quarter would dip by 7 to 13 percent to between NT$130.1 billion and NT$140 billion (US$4.38 billion and US$4.71 billion), compared with NT$150.37 billion last quarter, which it attributed to subdued front-loading demand and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. The Hsinchu-based chip designer said that the forecast factored in the negative effects of an estimated 6 percent appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the greenback. “As some demand has been pulled into the first half of the year and resulted in a different quarterly pattern, we expect the third quarter revenue to decline sequentially,”
DIVERSIFYING: Taiwanese investors are reassessing their preference for US dollar assets and moving toward Europe amid a global shift away from the greenback Taiwanese investors are reassessing their long-held preference for US-dollar assets, shifting their bets to Europe in the latest move by global investors away from the greenback. Taiwanese funds holding European assets have seen an influx of investments recently, pushing their combined value to NT$13.7 billion (US$461 million) as of the end of last month, the highest since 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Over the first half of this year, Taiwanese investors have also poured NT$14.1 billion into Europe-focused funds based overseas, bringing total assets up to NT$134.8 billion, according to data from the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association (SITCA),
Taiwan’s property transactions in the first half of this year fell 26.4 percent year-on-year to about 130,000 units, as credit controls and mortgage restrictions dampened demand, data from the Ministry of the Interior showed yesterday. Keelung saw the steepest decline, with transactions plummeting 45.6 percent to just 2,041 units — the lowest since the ministry began its survey in 2006. In contrast, Miaoli County was the only region to experience year-on-year growth, with transactions rising 2.4 percent to 3,229 units. Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) attributed the increase in deals in Miaoli, particularly Jhunan (竹南) and Toufen (頭份) townships, to spillover demand
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