Onshore yuan-denominated deposits last month dropped for the fifth consecutive month to 281.403 billion yuan (US$41.9 billion), a 3.05 percent decline from a month earlier and the lowest in nearly five years, statistics released by the central bank on Friday showed.
The monthly decrease of 8.861 billion yuan from 290.264 billion yuan in January also marked the largest decline since local banks started accepting yuan deposits in 2013, an indication that investors have lost interest in the Chinese currency.
Onshore yuan deposits include those at local banks’ domestic banking units (DBUs) and those at offshore banking units (OBUs) in Taiwan.
The central bank’s statistics showed that yuan deposits at DBUs decreased 3.43 percent from the previous month to 248.731 billion yuan, while those in OBUs fell 0.1 percent to 32.672 billion yuan.
The central bank said the drop at DBUs was because local life insurance companies and securities investment trust firms wired yuan abroad for investment purposes, while Taiwanese companies converted to local currency after yuan-denominated time deposits matured, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) reported on Saturday.
It also indicated that amid the persistent decline in deposit rates, yuan deposits have increasingly lost appeal as an investment tool compared with the stock market or other yuan-denominated investment options, the Liberty Times reported, citing the central bank.
Sunny Bank (陽信銀行) is offering the highest interest rate of 2.45 percent on one-month yuan time deposits, lower than the 2.86 percent provided one month earlier, central bank data showed.
While the interest rate for three-month to nine-month yuan time deposits remained unchanged at 3.1 percent at Jih Sun International Commercial Bank (日盛銀行) and Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank (上海商銀), one-year time deposits at Standard Chartered Bank Taiwan (渣打台灣銀行) dropped by 0.12 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.38 percent, the data showed.
Yuan-denominated remittances for last month totaled 151.765 billion yuan, up 8.39 percent from a month earlier, with remittances through DBUs totaling 76.993 billion yuan, down 10.09 percent monthly, while those via OBUs were 74.772 billion yuan, up 37.47 percent, the data showed.
The higher yuan remittances through OBUs came as local electronics firms wired money to China to pay for purchases, while life insurance firms also wired yuan abroad to invest in overseas bonds, the central bank said.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in