Although Minister of Finance Lee Yuan-san (
"Without a healthy banking sector in place, Taiwan's economy will not be revived," said TSU Legislator Eric Wu (
Comparing the ongoing financial reforms to the human cardiovascular system, Hsieh Chin-ho (謝金河), president of Win-Win Weekly (今周刊), said that Lee's successor should follow through the reforms "without any bargaining, otherwise, Taiwan will be like an ailing patient with clogged veins."
Ever since Lee's resignation last week, local markets has speculated that the DPP administration's financial reforms would slow.
But the outgoing minister yesterday defended his policies, saying a misunderstanding triggered a rift between regulators and the private sector.
"I have no regrets and have done all that needs to be done," Lee told reporters while returning to his office to pack yesterday morning on the first day of an unscheduled one-week leave.
Lee, however, offered no opinion on the premier's possible choice for his replacement.
The new minister should be equipped with not only financial expertise, but also seasoned political skills to be capable of handling pressure and opposition, Hsieh said.
Local Chinese-language media is speculating that Lin Tzong-yeong (
The three, however, denied the speculation yesterday.
While praising Lee's contribution to financial reforms, Hsieh added that both former vice finance ministers Lin and Chen are suitable choices given their experience in financial and political affairs.
Also stressing the importance of reforms, William Bryson, chairman of the capital markets committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, said yesterday that, a banker should take up the position of finance chief, since a major focus will be on cleaning up the banking sector's huge non-performing loan (NPL) mess.
While Taiwan is currently a hot NPL market in Asia, Bryson said that China's NPL market -- estimated at over US$480 billion -- is also a potential target for investors.
Taiwan's total NPL market is valued at NT$1.43 trillion (US$42 billion) -- 10 times smaller than that of China's.
"Because if the China market ever opens up, that will be a distraction to investors who are bidding on auctions here in Taiwan. China may draw the same group of investors over," said Bryson, who is also a legal consultant at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue (眾達法律事務所).
In addition to financial and political clout, Huang Da-yeh (
If the Financial Supervisory Board can be set up soon, the task of financial reforms should be left to the board's chairman while the finance minister should only be charged with governmental budgeting and financing tasks, he said.
SELL-OFF: Investors expect tariff-driven volatility as the local boarse reopens today, while analysts say government support and solid fundamentals would steady sentiment Local investors are bracing for a sharp market downturn today as the nation’s financial markets resume trading following a two-day closure for national holidays before the weekend, with sentiment rattled by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement. Trump’s unveiling of new “reciprocal tariffs” on Wednesday triggered a sell-off in global markets, with the FTSE Taiwan Index Futures — a benchmark for Taiwanese equities traded in Singapore — tumbling 9.2 percent over the past two sessions. Meanwhile, the American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the TAIEX, plunged 13.8 percent in
A wave of stop-loss selling and panic selling hit Taiwan's stock market at its opening today, with the weighted index plunging 2,086 points — a drop of more than 9.7 percent — marking the largest intraday point and percentage loss on record. The index bottomed out at 19,212.02, while futures were locked limit-down, with more than 1,000 stocks hitting their daily drop limit. Three heavyweight stocks — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn, 鴻海精密) and MediaTek (聯發科) — hit their limit-down prices as soon as the market opened, falling to NT$848 (US$25.54), NT$138.5 and NT$1,295 respectively. TSMC's
TARIFFS: The global ‘panic atmosphere remains strong,’ and foreign investors have continued to sell their holdings since the start of the year, the Ministry of Finance said The government yesterday authorized the activation of its NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) National Stabilization Fund (NSF) to prop up the local stock market after two days of sharp falls in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s new import tariffs. The Ministry of Finance said in a statement after the market close that the steering committee of the fund had been given the go-ahead to intervene in the market to bolster Taiwanese shares in a time of crisis. The fund has been authorized to use its assets “to carry out market stabilization tasks as appropriate to maintain the stability of Taiwan’s
In a small town in Paraguay, a showdown is brewing between traditional producers of yerba mate, a bitter herbal tea popular across South America, and miners of a shinier treasure: gold. A rush for the precious metal is pitting mate growers and indigenous groups against the expanding operations of small-scale miners who, until recently, were their neighbors, not nemeses. “They [the miners] have destroyed everything... The canals, springs, swamps,” said Vidal Britez, president of the Yerba Mate Producers’ Association of the town of Paso Yobai, about 210km east of capital Asuncion. “You can see the pollution from the dead fish.
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