Finance Minister Yen Ching-chang (
Yen made the remark yesterday at the Legislative Yuan while fielding questions by KMT lawmaker Chu Li-luan (
The two business groups -- the Hung Kuo Group (
Originally, creditor banks of the two groups agreed to lower the interest rates on loans to 6 percent from 8 percent and allow both groups to pay out the interest payments half in cash and another half in credit.
This time, however, the two groups have asked for a further cut in the portion of cash interest payments to 1.5 percent.
But since Tuntex had actually stopped the interest payments beginning in November of last year, and since default interest payments of up to six months will turn into part of the banking sector's total overdue loans based on current regulations, lawmakers are worried that loans extended to Tuntex are likely to become overdue if the group continues to default on payments next month.
"Both Tuntex and Hung Kuo have not paid their bank interest for four months," said Chu.
"If the NT$110 billion overdue loans of the two groups being put into the overdue loan ratio of the entire banking industry, the nation's overdue loan ratio would rise 0.7 to 0.8 of a percentage point."
"As the deadline of loan extension will expire on April 14 again, could these loans be extended further?," Chu asked.
Yen declined to comment on the two individual debt rollovers. However, he stressed that his ministry has been closely watching the situation.
"A number of industry leaders have been asking that Premier Chang Chung-hsiung (
"Since the second half of 1998, 60 percent of companies who had requested loan extensions before have paid their interest payments regularly," Yen said.
Nonetheless, the finance minister was unpleased that local media have been focusing on the continued rise on the overdue loan ratio.
"The main reason for the rise of the overdue loan ratio is because the economy has not recovered from the recession. ... Compared to the 20 or 30 percent overdue loan ratios in our neighboring countries, the quality of bank assets in Taiwan is still under control," he said.
Yen said he is confident in Taiwan's future financial reform, hinting that the Financial Holding Company Law is likely to be passed by the legislature within the next two months.
Another major financial reform act, the Financial Institution Merger Law, was passed at the end of last year.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique