The central bank would intervene in the market whenever necessary to help stabilize the New Taiwan dollar, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday, adding that it is concerned Taiwan might be placed on the US watchlist for currency manipulation.
The Control Yuan recently sent letter inquiring about the central bank’s market regulation efforts, Yang told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee on the NT dollar’s appreciation and property price hikes.
“It is the central bank’s top responsibility to stabilize foreign exchanges,” he said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The central bank has often stepped in toward the end of trading sessions to moderate the NT dollar’s appreciation against the US dollar.
The NT dollar had as of yesterday picked up 3.32 percent against the greenback this year and has on several occasions temporarily surpassed the NT$28.5 defense threshold allegedly set by Yang’s predecessor, Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南).
The central bank has to take action when noticing currency speculation and disorderly fund movements, Yang said.
The governor declined to comment on reports that the NT dollar might next year rise to NT$27.5, but said that global investment banks have mixed views about the US dollar’s outlook.
Taiwan is likely to be added to the US watch list after meeting two criteria: having a trade surplus with the US of at least US$20 billion and a current account surplus of more than 2 percent of GDP, Yang said.
The US normally updates its currency list twice a year, in April and October, but has not released a list so far this year, Yang said, adding that the central bank would try to communicate with the US on the matter.
Yang warned against loose real-estate lending, saying that the government would continue its coordinated efforts to thwart property speculation without affecting real-estate demand.
The endeavor is in the initial stage, but further measures might be implemented if the intended effect is not achieved, Yang said.
In certain sectors of the commercial real-estate market, the price development has been reasonable, as companies are returning production capacity home from China, he said.
Property prices in sectors without such support should be steadier, Yang said, adding that investment accounts for about 14 percent of real-estate financing.
In a best case scenario, the government would achieve its goal of curbing property speculation without putting pressure on local banks, Yang said.
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
‘SACRED MOUNTAIN’: The chipmaker can form joint ventures abroad, except in China, but like other firms, it needs government approval for large investments Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp. Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back
RSS