Central bank Deputy Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) is to succeed bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) as the nation’s top monetary policymaker at the end of the month, the Cabinet announced yesterday.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) has approved the appointment and Yang’s replacement is to be announced by Yang, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Perng, a world-renowned economist who received an “A” grade from New York-based Global Finance magazine for a record 14th year last year, has made a great contribution to Taiwan since his appointment in 1998, Hsu said.
Photo: Lu Kuan-cheng, Taipei Times
Yang is to take over on Feb. 24 when Perng retires, Hsu said.
Yang’s appointment came as no surprise as he is experienced in the central bank’s duties and operations, and would help the government keep its financial policy on track.
Yang, 64, earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Birmingham in 1989 and has devoted his whole career to the central bank.
He has served in the bank’s research, foreign exchange and banking departments, and was the representative in its London office before becoming deputy governor in 2008.
Yang has been a close aide to Perng since he joined the bank and he helped establish its real-time gross settlement system, a large-sum electronic payment transaction system that is the bedrock of its operations.
The system helped avert collateral damage that could have occurred after now-defunct Rebar Asia Pacific Group’s (力霸企業集團) attempted multibillion embezzlement in 2007.
In related news, the Executive Yuan disputed reports of a Cabinet reshuffle at the Lunar New Year.
According to a report by the Chinese-language United Daily News, several ministers are to be replaced by current or former aides to Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊).
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) was reported to be replaced by Kaohsiung Education Bureau Director-General Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠); Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) by Representative to the US Stanley Kao (高碩泰); and Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) by Deputy Minister of Labor Su Li-chung (蘇麗瓊), a former Kaohsiung City Government deputy secretary-general.
Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) was also reported to be stepping down.
Newly inaugurated Cabinet deputy spokesman Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭), a former Kaohsiung Information Bureau director, was also reported to be succeeding Hsu if he was nominated for the Taipei mayoral election at the end of this year.
However, Hsu disputed the report.
“There is no such reshuffle planned,” Hsu said.
Hsu also denied speculation that the premier would run in the mayoral election of either Taipei or New Taipei City, saying that the premier’s priority is to revive the economy and improve national development.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS