Japan’s finance minister said yesterday that he was paying close attention to movements in the foreign currency markets as a stubbornly strong yen threatens the country’s export-led recovery from recession.
The rise of the currency, which hit a 15-year-high against the US dollar last week, has set alarm bells ringing in the country, which saw economic growth slow sharply in the second quarter.
“I am watching the foreign exchange market with great interest,” Yoshihiko Noda said. He declined to be drawn further, refusing to discuss possible intervention or to comment on “things that concerns prices” of currencies.
In Tokyo early afternoon trade, the yen was quoted at 85.30 against the US dollar and 109.24 against the euro.
Noda’s comments come ahead of expected talks between Bank of Japan chief Masaaki Shirakawa and Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Monday, which analysts hope will lead to pressure on the central bank to introduce further easing policies to halt the appreciation of the yen.
Earlier this week, Kan met with key ministers to discuss a new stimulus package for next month, in a bid to revive the Japanese economy, which has long been hobbled by flat domestic demand.
The Nikkei Business Daily reported that the government plans to introduce new subsidies specifically designed to boost corporate investment in plants making environment-friendly products, such as automotive lithium ion batteries and LED lighting.
The government is also considering expanding programs for job seekers, boosting financing available to small and medium-sized businesses and increasing subsides to companies that hire new graduates on a trial basis, it said.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
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