Taiwan says does not rule out possibility of propping up stocks

[TAIPEI] Taiwan's vice finance minister, who is in charge of a large fund the government can tap to support shares, said on Monday he is "highly concerned" about the plunge of the island's stocks and does not rule out the possibility the fund will be used in due time to prop them up.

Vice Finance Minister Wu Tang-chieh made the comments to Reuters over the telephone. He is in charge of the National Security Fund, which manages about T$500 billion (S$22 billion).

At around 0335 GMT, the benchmark index was down about 5 per cent at 7,394.83 points, a level not seen in nearly three years. Earlier on Monday, it dropped as much as 7 per cent, joining other regional bourses in tumbling.

REUTERS