Taiwanese Central Bank Rates Left Unchanged
March 26, 2009
The Central Bank of the Republic of China “judged current monetary policy to be appropriate” and left its key interest rates, including a 1.25% discount rate since February 18th, unchanged. Seven prior cuts on September 25th, October 9th and 30th, November 9th, December 11th, January 7th and the aforementioned move in February total 237.5 basis points, which alongside an “expansive fiscal policy” represent considerable stimulus in the pipeline. So Taiwan’s central bank joins others in the Pacific Rim like the Bank of Korea and Reserve Bank of Australia, which have moved to a wait-and-see mode after engineering a fairly large rate reduction since last autumn. A statement from Taiwanese monetary officials speaks of weaker exports and domestic demand, subdued inflation, and some signs of stabilization in export orders and promises to intervene in currency markets to counter disorderly conditions surrounding the New Taiwanese dollar. Officials left open the door to possible further rate cuts in the future.
Copyright 2009 Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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