The government is not engaged in currency manipulation, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today, adding that the nation’s currency has always been stable as he promised to investigate any illegal activities.
The New Taiwan dollar has increased in value relative to the US dollar by NT$1.872 in two days, leading to major movements in foreign exchange markets and central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) bringing up the possibility of currency traders influencing the exchange rate.
Photo: Taipei Times
The rapid appreciation of NT dollar happens as Taiwan and the US continue their trade negotiations.
Prior to a legislative hearing today, Cho answered questions from the media.
Taiwan is not a country that manipulates exchange rates, Cho said, adding that currency speculators would not be allowed to undermine or influence it.
The government has asked the central bank and other financial institutions to conduct strict investigations, he said.
The government hopes that the exchange rate would quickly stabilize, he said.
The central bank would hold discussions with affected industries and financial institutions, he said, expressing optimism that the public would maintain its confidence in Taiwan’s past economic growth and continued development.
Cho also answered questions about tariffs and how the first round of negotiations between Taiwan and the US has proceeded.
The US set a deadline in early this month for other countries and negotiating partners to submit their comments, but this does not mark a new stage of negotiations, he said.
Last week’s in-person negotiations went well, he said, adding that discussions did not touch on exchange rates or other currency matters.
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,