Expatriates in key Asian cities are feeling the squeeze from the weak US dollar, which has pushed up their daily living expenses, a survey showed yesterday.
From grocery shopping to restaurant meals, expatriates have seen their purchasing power shrink as the greenback continues to slide, human resources consultancy ECA International said in its twice-yearly cost of living report.
The report found foreigners living in Japan were the hardest hit in Asia given the current strength of the yen.
“A lot of locations whose currencies are not pegged against the US dollar ... have risen in our [cost] rankings over the course of the last 12 months,” said Lee Quane, ECA International’s regional director based in Hong Kong.
Those who have moved to places such as Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea will require higher cost of living allowances to maintain the same purchasing power they had last year, he said.
“Japan remains the most expensive location in Asia largely because of the strength of the yen,” Lee said.
The dollar recently hit 14-year lows against the Japanese unit. ECA International’s survey measures the cost of a basket of 125 items purchased by expats in more than 390 locations globally.
The four costliest Asian cities were all in Japan, with Tokyo the most expensive; Yokohama ranked second followed by Nagoya and Kobe.
Hong Kong placed fifth in Asia, followed by Shanghai, with Seoul, Beijing, Singapore and Taipei rounding up ECA International’s top 10 costliest locations in the region this year.
Globally, the most expensive city for expatriates was Luanda because of the Angolan capital’s damaged infrastructure, followed in the top 10 by Tokyo, Oslo, Copenhagen, Yokohama, Stavanger in Norway, Nagoya, Geneva and Zurich.
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
GRAFT PROBE: Critics questioned Ko claiming he did not know about the Core Pacific floor area ratio issue until this year, citing a 2021 video in which he was asked about it Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released without bail early yesterday, while his deputy during his tenure as Taipei mayor was detained and held incommunicado after being questioned since Friday over graft allegations related to a shopping center redevelopment project. Prosecutors on Saturday filed a request with the Taipei District Court to officially detain Ko and former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) over allegations surrounding the redevelopment of Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心). The court yesterday determined that the evidence provided by prosecutors was insufficient to justify the detention of Ko and ordered his