Yuan deposits held by local banks last month increased by 1.34 percent to 241.24 billion yuan (US$37.23 billion), ending three months of decline, after corporate investors raised holdings, but individuals trimmed positions, the central bank said on Thursday.
Yuan deposits increased by 1.23 percent to 208.84 billion yuan at domestic banking units, while climbing by 2.03 percent to 32.39 billion yuan at offshore banking units, central bank Department of Foreign Exchange Deputy Director-General Gloria Chen (陳婉寧) told an online news conference in Taipei.
Chen attributed the advance at domestic units to bond redemptions by local insurance companies and the increase at offshore units to account receivables by local electronics firms.
Photo: Kelson Wang, Taipei Times
Five yuan-denominated bonds were each worth 4.95 billion yuan or more last month, while two new bonds entered the market, raising 3.85 billion yuan, Chen said.
However, retail investors continued to cut yuan deposits in favor of new yuan funds that promise higher yields, she said.
The People’s Bank of China last week announced that it would lower reserve requirement ratios by 0.5 percentage points, which is believed to inject 1 trillion yuan into the financial system to help support China’s economic growth, but might bode ill for investors reliant on interest incomes.
Bank of China Ltd’s (中國銀行) Taipei branch lowered interest rates for deposits of several tenures by 0.1 to 0.27 percentage points.
Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) is offering the highest interest rate among its peers of 3.05 percent for one-month yuan deposits, while the Bank of Kaohsiung (高雄銀行) has the highest interest rate of 1.65 percent for three-month yuan deposits, Chen said.
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