Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/01/2020
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) A group of labor funds managed by the Bureau of Labor Funds had suffered massive losses of more than NT$470 billion (US$15.67 billion) as of the end of March, when equity markets at home and abroad plunged amid an escalation of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In a statement, the bureau under the Ministry of Labor said Friday the labor funds, including the Labor Insurance Fund, the Labor Pension Fund, and the Employment Insurance and Wage Arrears Payment Fund, posted a combined loss of NT$471.2 billion, with a return of minus 11.16 percent at the end of March.

During that month, the benchmark weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, or Taiex, shed 1,584.11 points, or 14.03 percent, as the virus escalated in the United States and European countries, particularly Italy and Spain.

The bureau said that as many major economies moved to impose lockdowns in efforts to contain the disease, it caused a scaleback of production, undermined the global supply chain and hurt consumption, which plunged financial markets worldwide downward in the month.    [FULL  STORY]