The US remained the largest debtor nation of banks in Taiwan for the 37th consecutive quarter at the end of the third quarter, the central bank said on Friday last week.
Taiwanese banks’ exposure to the US stood at US$181.99 billion at the end of September, up US$6.67 billion, or 3.80 percent, from a quarter earlier, it said.
The increase came as banks in Taiwan continued to raise investments in trusted assets and increased interbank loans and financial bond purchases in the US market amid a stable US economy, Department of Financial Inspection Deputy Director-General Hsieh Jen-chun (謝人俊) said.
Photo: AP
The US accounted for 29.81 percent of Taiwanese banks’ total international claims at the end of September, compared with a new high of 29.89 percent at the end of June, Hsieh said.
China remained the second-largest debtor nation of Taiwan’s banking sector with exposure at US$48.27 billion as of the end of September, up 4.34 percent from the end of June, which Hsieh attributed to the yuan’s appreciation against the US dollar and an increase of loans and bond purchases.
Still, the gap in exposure to the US and China widened to US$133.7 billion at the end of September from US$129.0 billion at the end of June, as the Chinese economy was hit by escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, growing geopolitical unease and rising protectionism, the central bank said.
After the US and China, Luxembourg took the third spot with exposure from Taiwanese banks at US$44.62 billion, up 9.68 percent from a quarter earlier due to an increase in investments in currency mutual funds, ahead of Australia (US$40.19 billion, up 7.39 percent) and Japan (US$35.51 billion, down 17.04 percent).
Rounding out the top 10 debtor areas were Hong Kong with exposure of about US$32.20 billion, down 3.54 percent on a weaker economy, followed by the UK (US$20.56 billion, up 1.52 percent), Singapore (US$17.78 billion, down 2.28 percent), South Korea (US$17.26 billion, up 7.17 percent) and France (US$15.98 billion, down 0.34 percent).
Overall, international claims by Taiwanese banks stood at US$610.4 billion at the end of the third quarter, up 4.08 percent from a quarter earlier, as the local banking sector increased lending to the nonbanking segment in the private sectors of debtor nations, the central bank said.
Exposure to the top 10 debtors totaled US$454.3 billion, accounting for 74.43 percent of the total international claims of Taiwan’s banks, it said.
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