Taipei: Taiwan's labor funds experienced a significant increase in the first quarter, rising by more than NT$400 billion (US$12.66 billion), despite facing record monthly losses in March due to global financial volatility, the Bureau of Labor Funds announced.
According to Focus Taiwan, in March, the labor funds suffered a loss of NT$378.7 billion, marking the largest monthly decline on record. This downturn was attributed to challenges in the global financial markets following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, as reported by the bureau responsible for managing the funds.
The bureau noted that the March loss surpassed the previous record drop of NT$319.82 billion in March 2020, which was triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite this setback, the labor funds achieved gains totaling NT$434.4 billion in the first quarter of the year. The substantial gains in the initial two months of the year effectively counterbalanced the losses in March.
Data from the bureau revealed that the gains in the January-March period resulted in a 5.76 percent rate of return, highlighting the funds' resilience and ability to recover from significant market fluctuations.