TAIWAN REJECTS TEXTILE MAKER PLEA ON EXCHANGE RATE
Central bank governor Chang Chi-cheng
rejected a request by textile makers to halt the rise of the
Taiwan dollar against the U.S. Dollar to stop them losing
orders to South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, a spokesman for
the Taiwan Textile Federation said.
    He quoted Chang as telling representatives of 19 textile
associations last Saturday the government could not fix the
Taiwan dollar exchange rate at 35 to one U.S. Dollar due to
U.S. Pressure for an appreciation of the local currency.
    The Federation asked the government on February 19 to hold
the exchange rate at that level.
    The federation said in its request that many local textile
exporters were operating without profit and would go out of
business if the rate continued to fall.
    It said the Taiwan dollar has risen almost 14 pct against
the U.S. Dollar since September 1985 while the South Korean won
climbed only four pct. The Singapore and Hong Kong dollars
remained stable against the U.S. Unit in that period, it said.
    Many local bankers and economists predict Taiwan's dollar
will rise to between 32 and 33 per U.S. Dollar by year-end.
    Chang was quoted as saying this would depend on Taiwan's
ability to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. This year.
    The surplus widened to a record 13.6 billion U.S. Dlrs in
calendar 1986 from 10.2 billion in 1985, official figures show.
    Taiwan's textile exports fell by almost four pct in January
to 562 mln U.S. Dlrs from 583 mln in January 1986, the same
figures show.
    Textiles are Taiwan's second-largest export earner, after
electrical and electronic products.
    Textile exports surged to 7.8 billion U.S. Dlrs last year
from 6.2 billion in 1985. Exports to the U.S. Last year were
worth 2.8 billion U.S. Dlrs.
 REUTER
