Taiwan will not follow the US in setting its monetary policy, but it would pay attention to global peers’ moves, international raw material price trends and geopolitical risks, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday.
“There is no need for Taiwan to follow the US monetary decisions,” as the US Federal Reserve is widely believed to raise interest rates by 50 basis points next month in another of six more rate hikes for this year to curb inflation, Yang said.
US inflation last month hit 8.5 percent, while Taiwan’s rose 3.27 percent, rendering drastic rate hikes unwarranted, he said.
Photo: CNA
Rather, the central bank will approach the matter by taking into consideration policy moves by global peers, inflationary pressures at home, and international fuel and raw material price movements, he said.
In addition, the central bank will seek to support the nation’s economy to meet its duty, he said.
Yang said he stood by the view that Taiwan could achieve a GDP growth of 4 percent this year, although international research bodies have cut their forecast to an average of 3.8 percent after Russia invaded Ukraine in February and crude prices have since shot up.
Consumer prices in Taiwan are likely to ease next quarter, although the landscape is teeming with uncertainties, Yang said.
The central bank will make its quarterly decisions guided by the latest global and domestic economic data, Yang said, while acknowledging that the ongoing weakening of the New Taiwan dollar against the greenback is lending force to inflation.
Consumer prices picked up 0.1 to 0.17 percentage points after the NT dollar recently softened from NT$28 to NT$29 versus the US currency, Yang said, describing the extra inflationary burden as moderate.
A weak NT dollar will not necessarily become a norm, but has much to do with global funds responding to the Fed’s rate hikes and asset adjustments, he said.
“The market will have the final say on the NT dollar’s movements, but it remains the best performer in the past two years, thanks to Taiwan’s robust economy and corporate profitability,” Yang said.
The governor reiterated that the rate hike on March 17 is not aimed at cooling the property market, even though it inevitably sent unfavorable messages.
The central bank would favor selective credit controls to prevent funds from overflowing to the property market, he said.
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
TECH SECURITY: The deal assures that ‘some of the most sought-after technology on the planet’ returns to the US, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said The administration of US President Joe Biden finalized its CHIPS Act incentive awards for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), marking a major milestone for a program meant to bring semiconductor production back to US soil. TSMC would get US$6.6 billion in grants as part of the contract, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement yesterday. Though the amount was disclosed earlier this year as part of a preliminary agreement, the deal is now legally binding — making it the first major CHIPS Act award to reach this stage. The chipmaker, which is also taking up to US$5 billion
TRADE WAR: Tariffs should also apply to any goods that pass through the new Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru, an adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump said A veteran adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump is proposing that the 60 percent tariffs that Trump vowed to impose on Chinese goods also apply to goods from any country that pass through a new port that Beijing has built in Peru. The duties should apply to goods from China or countries in South America that pass through the new deep-water port Chancay, a town 60km north of Lima, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, an adviser to the Trump transition team who served as senior director for the western hemisphere on the White House National Security Council in his first administration. “Any product going
CARBON REDUCTION: ‘As a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, we recognize our mission in environmental protection,’ TSMC executive Y.P. Chyn said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday launched its first zero-waste center in Taichung to repurpose major manufacturing waste, which translates into savings of NT$1.5 billion (US$46 million) in environmental costs a year. The environmental cost savings include a carbon reduction benefit of 40,000 tonnes, equivalent to the carbon offset of over 110 Daan Forest Parks, the chipmaker said. The Taichung Zero Waste Manufacturing Center is part of the chipmaker’s greater efforts to reach its net zero emissions goal in 2050, aligning with the UN’s 12th Sustainable Development Goal. The center could reduce TSMC’s outsourced waste processing
RSS