Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Taiwan moves forward in launching RMB-based financial services



l  Beijing recently took a key step forward in making Taipei the next Renminbi (RMB) offshore banking center. In fact, the People's Bank of China has just signed a designation pact with the Bank of China's Taipei branch to clear RMB-based transactions in Taiwan.

l  This step would accelerate the establishment of cross-Strait currency clearing operations and allow Taiwanese people to make deposits and invest in RMB-denominated assets.

l  According to Taiwan Central Bank officials, once the designation pact is signed between the two Chinese banks, RMB-denominated operations and services, including deposits, loans and remittances, can begin within a month. We expect these services to be operational in mid-February, after the 9-day Lunar New Year holiday.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Taiwan’s exports declined slightly in 2012


l   Taiwan's exports posted negative growth for 2012 despite rising 9 percent in December. According to government statistics recently released by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Taiwan's exports totaled US$301.11 billion last year as a whole, which amounted to a drop of 2.3 percent year-on-year.


l   On the other hand, imports in 2012 fell 3.8 percent to US$270.73 billion, but December’s total imports also increased 2.3 percent year-on-year to US$21.98 billion. Taken together, Taiwan had a trade surplus of US$4.12 billion in December, up 78 percent from the same period in 2011. That brought the island’s total trade surplus to US$30.38 billion, which was 13.3 percent higher than in 2011.

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Monday, January 28, 2013

The beginning of the end of “cross-Strait diplomatic truce?”



l  Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) recently downplayed a Honduras government statement that cautioned Taipei not to interfere with its internal affairs and that Honduras has the right to expand relations with other countries, including China.

l Though MOFA officials have reassured the Taiwan public that Honduras-Taiwan relations remain solid, the recent statement by the Central American ally has cast a shadow over the “cross-Strait diplomatic truce” pursued by the current administration since 2008.

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Thursday, January 3, 2013

A “u-shaped” recovery seen for Taiwan’s economy in 2013


* According to Taiwan’s Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER), Taiwan's domestic gross product (GDP) would maintain a one-percent increase this year and grow 3.6 percent in 2013.

* The most recent economic forecast by CIER represented just a slight improvement—0.01 percent—from a previous estimate of 3.59 percent. The CIER attributed the improved forecast next year to the anticipated recovery, albeit incremental, in global economic fundamentals.....