Taiwan said to ease exporter FX rule after record stocks exodus

[TAIPEI] Taiwan’s central bank is said to have eased restrictions on exporters selling US dollars to support the local currency after record foreign stock outflows helped make it Asia’s worst performer in October.

The Taiwan dollar rebounded from its weakest level since April 2025 on Monday (Nov 2) after the central bank told some lenders that exporters’ US dollar sales would no longer face daily limits, according to foreign exchange (FX) traders.

The currency slid about 2 per cent in October amid persistent equity outflows.

The move was more pronounced in one-month non-deliverable forwards, which are used to hedge currency moves. The contracts strengthened as much as 0.4 per cent to 32.537 per US dollar after falling earlier.

“Given the underperformance of the Taiwan dollar, the headline is a signal that the authorities could be becoming less tolerant of Taiwan dollar depreciation,” said Eddie Cheung, senior emerging markets strategist at Credit Agricole CIB Hong Kong branch.

Taiwan’s central bank called at least four banks on Monday morning in a rare move, without specifying how long the measures will stay in place, said the traders who asked not to be named discussing private matters.

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The central bank sets different daily limits on exporters’ US dollar sales. It previously said that, as a general rule, exporters may sell up to US$10 million per day.

The central bank’s FX department did not immediately reply to a request for comment. BLOOMBERG