Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves last month picked up US$3.8 billion to US$548.5 billion, ending two months of decline, thanks to seasonal dividend income from bond holdings and value gains in non-US dollar reserve currencies, the central bank said yesterday.
The latest balance indicated that Taiwan retained its status as the world’s fourth-largest foreign reserve holder after China, Japan and Switzerland, after overtaking India in April.
“The central bank’s holdings in US government bonds received a boost from seasonal dividend incomes and value advances in major reserve currencies other than the greenback,” Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The euro last month rose 2.27 percent against its US counterpart, while the British pound increased 1.07 percent and the Japanese yen grew 1.99 percent, Tsai said.
The central bank intervened in the local foreign exchange market to maintain stability in the local currency and achieved a neutral effect due to the moderate amount involved, he said.
The local foreign exchange market was volatile last month, with many wondering how far the US dollar’s appreciation would go, Tsai said, adding that the greenback weakened in the second half of the month after economic uncertainty loomed, raising hope that the US Federal Reserve would ease monetary tightening.
Such expectations lent support to emerging market currencies including the New Taiwan dollar, he said.
That explains why foreign stock players modestly increased holdings in local shares, but pressed ahead with net capital flight of US$1 billion to pursue higher yields elsewhere, he added.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors