The Taiwan dollar closed lower against the US dollar on Friday, a day after Taiwan's central bank cut reserve requirements on foreign deposits to curb investor appetite for the local currency. The Taiwan dollar opened at T$30.205 to the US dollar and weakened to an intraday low of T$30.406 before ending at T$30.402.
The Taiwan dollar closed at T$30.180 on Thursday, easing from a 10-1/2-year high reached the day before. Volume on the main Taipei Forex Inc exchange was $1.845 billion, down from $2.001 billion a day earlier.
"After the central bank's move, investors covered their short positions in the US dollar," said one dealer at a local bank. "There were also some outflows of foreign funds." The central bank cut the reserve requirement ratio on foreign deposits to 0.125 percent from 5.0 percent on Thursday, after the Taiwan dollar rose due to brisk foreign fund inflows.
On the same day, the central bank also raised the benchmark discount rate to 3.5 percent, the highest in 6-1/2 years. Taiwan's rate advantage over the United States had helped to lift the Taiwan dollar to successive 10-year highs against the US dollar early in the week.
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