■ Bad-loan ratio falls 0.5 percent
Taiwanese banks had NT$565.2 billion (US$16.8 billion) of overdue loans at the end of last month, with the bad-loan ratio falling to 3.82 percent from 4.33 percent last Dec. 31, the Bureau of MonetaryAffairs said in a statement.
The banks had a total of NT$787.3 billion of loans classified as non-performing or under surveillance, about 5.31 percent of total lending, at the end of last month, according to the bureau. That compares with NT$886.6 billion or 6.1 percent at the end of December. The non-performing loan ratio for banks reached a record-high 8.09 percent in April 2002.
■ Money supply picks up speed
Money supply grew last month at its fastest pace in more than four-and-a-half years as compa-nies increased borrowings to fund expansion amid surging overseas demand, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.
M2, the broadest measure of the nation's money supply, expanded 8.5 percent from a year earlier, the bank said. That's the biggest gain since August 1999 and follows a 7.9 percent expansion in March. The central bank in December forecast that M2 would rise as much as 6.5 percent this year.
The M1B money supply, which excludes time deposits and foreign-currency deposits included in M2, grew 24 percent last month, little changed from the pace in March.
■ NT dollar down slightly
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.031 to close at NT$33.619 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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