The US remained Taiwan’s largest debtor as of the end of June, with the local banking sector’s exposure to US entities on the rise, despite trade tensions between the US and China, the central bank said.
Outstanding claims by Taiwanese banks from the US totaled US$79.11 billion on a direct-risk basis, up from US$74.21 billion at the end of March, data compiled by the central bank showed.
On an ultimate-risk basis, which calculates a country’s consolidated debts after risk transfers, Taiwanese banks’ exposure to the US stood at US$74.92 billion, up from US$71.61 billion in the first quarter.
The increase largely reflected the foreign-exchange fluctuations during the three-month period, as well as Taiwanese investors’ steady investments in bonds and securitized financial instruments, analysts said.
China came in second with Taiwanese banks extending US$45.2 billion in loans to the Chinese market as of the end of June on a direct-risk basis, up from US$43.51 billion in the first quarter, and about US$67.90 billion on an ultimate-risk basis, compared with US$67.21 billion a quarter earlier, the central bank said.
Taiwanese banks raised their investments in securities products to boost their exposure, while banks in Taiwan also increased their loans extended to their subsidiaries operating in China, it said.
Overall, outstanding international claims by banks in Taiwan rose 4.38 percent quarterly to US$435.3 billion on a direct-risk basis, while exposure on an ultimate-risk basis also rose 3.98 percent to US$414.8 billion.
It was the second consecutive quarter in which Taiwan’s outstanding international claims have climbed, government data showed.
After the US and China, Luxembourg was the third-largest debtor to Taiwan on a direct-risk basis as of the end of June, with Taiwanese banks’ exposure reaching US$39.74 billion.
Hong Kong placed fourth with US$37.88 billion in exposure, followed by Japan with US$32.66 billion, Australia with US$21.97 billion, the Cayman Islands with US$17.99 billion, the UK with US$17.68 billion, Singapore with US$16.90 billion and the British West Indies with US$13.57 billion.
Bank exposure to Taiwan’s top 10 debtors at the end of June stood at US$322.7 billion, accounting for 74.14 percent of the country’s total international claims on a direct-risk basis, the central bank said.
The global non-bank private sector accounted for 62.63 percent of Taiwan’s total international claims on a direct-risk basis, with the banking industry making up 30.63 percent and the public sector 6.99 percent, the central bank said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned. Completed early this year and undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, according to two people with knowledge of the project. EUV machines sit at the heart of a technological Cold
Taiwan’s long-term economic competitiveness will hinge not only on national champions like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) but also on the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, a US-based scholar has said. At a lecture in Taipei on Tuesday, Jeffrey Ding, assistant professor of political science at the George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers," argued that historical experience shows that general-purpose technologies (GPTs) — such as electricity, computers and now AI — shape long-term economic advantages through their diffusion across the broader economy. "What really matters is not who pioneers
TAIWAN VALUE CHAIN: Foxtron is to fully own Luxgen following the transaction and it plans to launch a new electric model, the Foxtron Bria, in Taiwan next year Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said that its board of directors approved the disposal of its electric vehicle (EV) unit, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) for NT$787.6 million (US$24.98 million). Foxtron, a half-half joint venture between Yulon affiliate Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co (華創車電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), expects to wrap up the deal in the first quarter of next year. Foxtron would fully own Luxgen following the transaction, including five car distributing companies, outlets and all employees. The deal is subject to the approval of the Fair Trade Commission, Foxtron said. “Foxtron will be
RSS