Taiwan’s balance of payments had a current account surplus of US$32.19 billion last quarter, bolstered by strong exports that benefited from steady growth in global trade and economic activity, the central bank said yesterday.
The balance of payments is a sum of all transactions made with foreign entities by individuals, companies and government bodies in a country. The figure is commonly used as a reference point for monetary policymaking.
The goods trade surplus grew by US$1.63 billion to US$24.29 billion during the fourth quarter of last year, driven by sustained demand for electronics used in digital transformation and emerging technology applications, it said.
Photo: Billy H.C. Kwok, Bloomberg
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest suppliers of critical electronic components, such as advanced and mature chips.
Meanwhile, the services account surplus widened by US$2.35 billion to US$3.95 billion, mainly because freight rates soared amid lingering container shortages and port congestion, the central bank said.
The largest beneficiaries of that trend were Taiwan’s major cargo service providers, Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運), which saw their revenue and profit skyrocket last year, a trend that continued into this year.
For the whole of last year, Taiwan’s current account surplus climbed to a historic high of US$116.12 billion, the central bank said.
The nation’s success in curbing the spread of COVID-19 helped local tech firms reap a windfall from transferred orders and led to a boom in the low-contact economy, it said.
Combined revenue at shipping companies reached US$19.2 billion, pushing up the services account surplus to US$12.31 billion, both record highs, it said.
However, Taiwan saw fund outflows jumping to an unprecedented US$104.6 billion, as local insurance companies increased stakes in overseas assets and foreign portfolio managers cut holdings in local shares by more than US$20 billion, the central bank said.
It is common for export-focused nations such as Taiwan, China, South Korea and Germany to report fund outflows, as financial institutions pursue higher investment returns in markets around the world, it said.
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