Taiwan Cuts Rate for Third Straight Meeting as Exports Slump
- Perng says rates unlikely at zero or negative in his term
- Economy shrank in past two quarters amid China's slowdown
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Taiwan cut its benchmark rate for a third consecutive quarter as an export slump showed no signs of recovering and has begun weighing on the labor market, while Governor Perng Fai-nan said he doesn’t expect to take the rate to zero or even negative during his term.
The central bank lowered the benchmark discount rate by another 12.5 basis points to 1.5 percent, it said in a statement Thursday in Taipei. Twenty-five of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a cut, with 22 expecting the rate to reach 1.5 percent, three predicting 1.375 percent and one expecting no change.