The domestic banking sector’s asset quality slightly improved in November, as the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio edged down by 0.06 percentage points month-on-month to 1.29 percent, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed late on Thursday.
DECREASE
Bad loans by the nation’s 37 banks totaled NT$237.3 billion (US$7.4 billion) at the end of November — a decrease of NT$8.1 billion from one month earlier, the commission’s data showed.
The sector granted a total of NT$18.3 trillion in loans in November, NT$141.5 billion up month-on-month, while the coverage ratio — loans covered by banks’ provisions — jumped by 1.58 percentage points month-on-month to 80.70 percent, the data showed.
Thirty-four of the 37 banks had an NPL ratio of less than 2.5 percent, while Bank of Panhsin (板信銀行) and Cosmos Bank Taiwan (萬泰銀行) had NPL ratios of between 2.5 percent and 5 percent, and 3.82 percent and 3 percent respectively.
HIGHEST RATIO
Chinfon Commercial Bank (慶豐銀行) continued to top the list with an NPL ratio of 14.52 percent at the end of November.
The commission reiterated in a press statement that it would take action to instruct banks with high NPLs to improve their asset quality and financial performance.
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