The nation saw a record-low non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 2.46 percent as of the end of last month, down from 2.71 percent in May, with bad loans at the nation's 47 banks decreasing to NT$393.7 billion, a drop of NT$37.5 billion, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Monetary Affairs yesterday.
Including loans under surveillance, the NPL ratio slowed by 0.4 percentage points to 3.24 percent at the end of last month, while default loans plunged to NT$518.1 billion from NT$577.8 billion, according to the bureau.
The coverage ratio increased to 44.38 percent, up from 40.58 percent, indicating improving capabilities for local banks to absorb potential losses from bad loans, the bureau's deputy director-general Jong Huey-jen (鍾慧貞) said.
As many as 39 banks saw their NPL ratio, including loans under surveillance, drop below 5 percent, while 18 banks' NPL ratio was below 2.5 percent, Jong said.
As for bad loans linked to credit cards, the ratio also dropped to 0.52 percent at the end of last month, down from 0.5 percent in May, with 45.4 million credit cards in circulation issued by 51 financial institutions.
The NPL ratio for cash-advance cards nudged up by 0.09 percentage points to 0.91 percent, with bad loans amounting to NT$299.7 billion on 3.8 million cards issued by 33 financial institutions, the bureau said.
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