The central bank dumped an estimated US$492 million in New Taiwan dollars to curtail strong gains by the local currency yesterday, narrowing the gain from NT$0.191 to NT$0.026 in two minutes before the close, dealers said.
Strong inward remittances by foreign investors and greenback sell orders from exporters propelled the NT dollar to a 30-month high against the US currency.
"This is the way our central bank tells market participants to behave," one dealer said. "But the central bank should know that the tide is changing -- money will keep coming in as investors snap up stocks, because the Taiwanese market is the safest bet when other Asian markets are falling along with the US."
Without confirming or denying that it had intervened to pare the currency's advance, Duann Jin-sheng (
However, he said, "the central bank will take action to maintain market order, should the exchange rate fail to reflect the economic fundamentals."
He said the central bank would "keep a watchful eye out" for money being wired in with the purpose of reaping profits from foreign exchange speculation.
The New Taiwan dollar closed at NT$31.495 against the greenback yesterday, from an intraday high of NT$31.3. Turnover totaled US$1.512 billion, down moderately from US$1.884 billion on Thursday.
A senior bank dealer said a wave of speculation was fueled by central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan's (
The escalating prices of imported commodities increased inflationary pressure on the local economy, pushing the consumer price index up by 4.5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter last year. The CEPD predicts the inflation rate will hover above 2 percent in the first half of this year, but edge down gradually in the second half.
"The NT dollar is appreciating because the trend of a weak US dollar has been confirmed. This won't change, even if the governor issues a statement to deny that he has said anything positive about the CEPD presentation," the senior dealer said.
Bank dealers said the NT dollar is likely to challenge NT$31.3 again on Monday. The currency has appreciated NT$0.936 against the greenback since the beginning of the year, and NT$0.251 over the past four trading days.
The TAIEX was up 22.78 points yesterday to close at 8,108.71.
Also see: Central bank plans to shuffle officials
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
UNDER ATTACK: Raymond Greene said there were 412 billion malicious threats in the Asia-Pacific region in the first half of 2023, with 55 percent targeting Taiwan Taiwan not only faces military intimidation from China, but is also on the front line of global cybersecurity threats, and it is taking action to counter those attacks, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Speaking at the opening of this year’s Cybersec Expo in Taipei, the president assured foreign diplomats and exhibitors that Taiwan remained committed to strengthening its defense against cyberattacks and enhancing the resilience of its digital infrastructure. Lai referenced a report from the National Security Bureau (NSB) indicating that the Government Service Network faced an average of 2.4 million intrusion attempts daily last year, more than double the figure
Retired US general Robert B. Abrams reportedly served as adviser to Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) during the Ministry of National Defense’s computer-simulated war games in the buildup to this year’s 41st annual Han Kuang military exercises, local media reported yesterday. For 14 days and 13 nights starting on April 5 and ending yesterday, the armed forces conducted the computer-simulated war games component of the Han Kuang exercises, utilizing the joint theater-level simulation system (JTLS). Using the JTLS, the exercise simulated a continuous 24-hour confrontation based on scenarios such as “gray zone” incursions and the Chinese People’s Liberation
RSS