In May, the Taiwan dollar appreciated significantly, prompting the central bank to intervene heavily by purchasing foreign currency to curb the rise, which resulted in the foreign reserves increasing by $10.116 billion by the end of May, marking the fifth-largest increase in history. The foreign reserves reached $592.948 billion, reflecting a notable increase from the previous month.

With the decline of the international dollar, the Taiwan dollar followed the appreciation of major Asian currencies, showing a 3% gain in May, closing at 29.922 TWD. Exporters rushed to sell foreign currency, and with government funds and oil-related dollar buying, the total trading volume expanded to $2.123 billion.

Cai Guomin, the head of the Central Bank's Foreign Exchange Bureau, indicated that the increase in foreign reserves was due to three main factors: the returns from foreign reserve investments, fluctuations in major currency exchange rates, and the central bank's intervention to maintain market order. He emphasized that the central bank’s actions were not a laissez-faire approach but aimed to alleviate overly strong market expectations of appreciation.