Economic pundits gave a mixed response to the news that Taiwan's top statistician will be the next finance minister, saying he faces an uphill battle to tackle the No. 1 financial issue, banking reform.
"Unlike outgoing minister Lee Yung-san (
Huang advised Lin not to get bogged down in financial reforms, but instead push forward the establishment of the Financial Supervisory Board (FSB, 金監會) and delegate the responsibility to them.
That independent regulatory body is to be charged with supervising financial institutions and merging the powers of different agencies.
He should "allow the FSB to take total control of the reforms in the near future," Huang said.
PFP Legislator Norman Yin (殷乃平) yesterday expressed concern over Lin's weakness in the area of financial reform, saying the new minister will stall the entire process.
"The reforms cannot wait for Lin to become familiar with the nation's financial issues," Yin said.
But one analyst disagreed, saying Lin's financial experience was not the problem.
``With his background and experience as financial chief of Taipei, he should be up to the job,'' said Jeffrey Hsieh, at United Securities Investment Trust Corp. ``Financial reform isn't a problem. It's a road the government has to go down.''
The problems facing Lin include a financial industry with up to NT$2.3 trillion (US$66 billion) in bad loans and a government with a NT$291 billion budget deficit and a record NT$3 trillion of debt.
The government has proposed an industry cleanup by merging or closing some of Taiwan's 52 banks and 300 rural credit cooperatives. The overhaul was put on hold after last week's public outcry.
"My concern is the problems he may face in the legislature because of his close affiliation with Chen," Hsieh said.
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