Taiwan continued to have the world’s sixth-largest net assets at US$576.7 billion at the end of last year, statistics by the Central Bank of China (Taiwan) showed yesterday.
China, followed by Germany, Hong Kong and Switzerland, occupied the top four spots, the central bank said.
The US, meanwhile, held the world’s largest debts at US$2.44 trillion, followed by Brazil, France, Australia and Mexico, the bank said.
Taiwan had a total holding of US$877.8 billion in overseas assets at the end of last year, up 1.3 percent, or US$10.3 billion, from the previous year as a result of an increase in central bank reserve assets as well as deposit and loans by domestic private banks, the bank said.
The central bank’s reserve capital rose 7.8 percent to US$296.4 billion at the end of last year, while outbound foreign direct investment surged 10.6 percent to US$175.1 billion for the same period, central bank statistics showed.
Hit by the financial crisis, overseas securities investments by local investors declined US$60.1 billion, or 24.1 percent to US$188.8 billion at the end of last year, the bank said.
Taiwan reported total debts of US$301.1 billion — US$87.5 billion, or 22.5 percent down from one year earlier as a result of a withdrawal of equities investments by foreign investors and decreasing value, the central bank said.
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