The Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF) said that the soundness ranking for Taiwanese banks was based on the results of a survey of 65 business leaders in Taiwan and reflected the view of Taiwanese businesses.
The remark came after the forum's annual competitiveness poll released on Tuesday showed that Taiwan ranked 100th in terms of the soundness of banks, which prompted strong criticism from the nation's financial regulator on Wednesday.
Gary Tseng (曾國烈), head of the Financial Supervisory Commission's Banking Bureau, said the WEF used too simple a method to measure the soundness of banks by surveying the opinions of business leaders, which he said was not able to reflect the reality of the situation.
But a person attached to the WEF told the Central News Agency that the excessive issuing of credit cards in Taiwan, the loose code of ethics relating to Taiwan's banks and loan-granting procedures and efficiency were factors that gave business leaders a negative perception of banks.
She added that it was important for the banks to improve their management skills as soon as possible.
In addition, she attributed the decline in Taiwan's global competitiveness to problems in public and private institutions.
This year's report also suggested that the nation is losing its technological edge, with the country's innovation ranking sliding to eighth from the top three, she said.
Overall, Taiwan dropped from eighth place last year to 13th this year in terms of the forum's Global Competitiveness Index ranking.
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