India’s rupee led gains in Asian currencies, completing its best week in 12 years, on signs overseas funds are returning to buy local assets aided by cuts in borrowing costs by global central banks.
Seven of the 10 most-active currencies in Asia excluding the yen strengthened this week as the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose 1.2 percent, extending last week’s 6 percent advance.
The rupee climbed 3.8 percent to 47.66 per US dollar in Mumbai, from 49.4575 on Oct. 31, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That is the biggest weekly gain since March 1996. Thailand’s baht and the Philippine peso strengthened 0.3 percent to 34.96 and 48.81 respectively in the week.
The New Taiwan dollar gained for a second week, the longest winning streak in more than three months.
“It’s difficult to see further weakening in the Taiwan dollar,” said Daniel Soh, an economist at Forecast Pte in Singapore. “The cross-strait policy measures will provide some support to the currency, as this is positive to the economies on both sides.”
The NT dollar rose 0.5 percent to NT$32.824 against the dollar, from NT$33 on Oct. 31, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
The yen headed for weekly gains against the euro and the British pound on speculation global interest-rate cuts will make it less attractive to purchase overseas assets using funds from Japan.
The yen rose to ¥124.46 versus the euro in London from ¥125.30 at the end of last week. It climbed to ¥153.87 versus the pound, from ¥158.28 last week.
Indonesia’s rupiah reversed Friday’s losses to end the week stronger. The rupiah rose 0.7 percent to 10,900 a dollar, from 10,975 a week earlier, Bloomberg data show.
South Korea’s won declined 2.8 percent this week to 1,328.80 per dollar, taking this year’s loss to 30 percent, the worst performance among the 10 most-traded Asian currencies outside Japan.
Elsewhere, the Vietnamese dong dropped 0.9 percent this week to 16,984 against the US dollar after the central bank widened the daily trading band for the currency to 3 percent from 2 percent. The Malaysian ringgit weakened 0.2 percent to 3.5520.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
‘INDISCRIMINATE’: The drastic changes would delay many national projects as well as undermine global confidence in Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself, the premier said The Legislative Yuan yesterday on third reading passed the central government budget for this year, cutting 6.6 percent from the Executive Yuan’s proposed expenditure — the largest in history. The budget proposal, which the Cabinet approved in August last year, set government spending at NT$3.1325 trillion (US$95.6 billion), with projected revenues of NT$3.1534 trillion — both record highs — working out to a surplus of NT$20.9 billion. On Friday last week, the opposition-led legislature voted to cut NT$93.98 billion from the budget’s general provisions. During a 20-hour continuous session from Monday until yesterday morning, they continued to slash the budgets of government agencies,
RSS