The latest review on state-run banks’ exposure to US Treasuries and their internal risk management measures found no major issues, a Ministry of Finance official said yesterday.
The ministry last month asked nine state-run banks to report their exposure to US government bonds, risk management mechanisms and protocols, in response to public concerns over US assets.
So far, there were no major issues with the Treasuries exposures of the banks that would require authorities to take further measures, a ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said by telephone.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
The ministry has not conducted any additional reviews since last month and has no plans for more reviews or for there to be regular checkups, the official said.
The comments came in response to a report by the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday, which said the ministry had asked state-run banks to adjust US bond portfolio allocations and lower their exposures if market concerns intensify.
Markets have been whipsawed by growing uncertainty over economic prospects after US President Donald Trump unveiled steep trade tariffs last month. The New Taiwan dollar has surged against the greenback in the past month, raising concern over the exposure to US dollar assets.
The state-run banks collectively hold about NT$340 billion (US$11.26 billion) in US government bonds, the Commercial Times said.
Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Ltd (彰化商業銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank Ltd (華南商業銀行), Mega International Commercial Bank Co (兆豐國際商業銀行) and Land Bank of Taiwan Co (臺灣土地銀行) are among the institutions holding the highest proportion.
In the middle of last month, a legislator voiced concern about local exposure to US Treasuries amid growing tariff and market uncertainty. In a statement late last month, the Ministry of Finance said state-run banks should adjust holdings to control risks if market concerns intensify, after it had completed a round of reviews.
The authority has asked the banks to actively manage and adjust their US government bond exposure following their internal protocols and mechanisms, the official said, adding that it would continue to closely monitor the situation and make adjustments accordingly.
UNCERTAINTIES: Exports surged 34.1% and private investment grew 7.03% to outpace expectations in the first half, although US tariffs could stall momentum The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast to 3.05 percent this year on a robust first-half performance, but warned that US tariff threats and external uncertainty could stall momentum in the second half of the year. “The first half proved exceptionally strong, allowing room for optimism,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “But the growth momentum may slow moving forward due to US tariffs.” The tariff threat poses definite downside risks, although the scale of the impact remains unclear given the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s policies, Lien said. Despite the headwinds, Taiwan is likely
When Lika Megreladze was a child, life in her native western Georgian region of Guria revolved around tea. Her mother worked for decades as a scientist at the Soviet Union’s Institute of Tea and Subtropical Crops in the village of Anaseuli, Georgia, perfecting cultivation methods for a Georgian tea industry that supplied the bulk of the vast communist state’s brews. “When I was a child, this was only my mum’s workplace. Only later I realized that it was something big,” she said. Now, the institute lies abandoned. Yellowed papers are strewn around its decaying corridors, and a statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin
UNIFYING OPPOSITION: Numerous companies have registered complaints over the potential levies, bringing together rival automakers in voicing their reservations US President Donald Trump is readying plans for industry-specific tariffs to kick in alongside his country-by-country duties in two weeks, ramping up his push to reshape the US’ standing in the global trading system by penalizing purchases from abroad. Administration officials could release details of Trump’s planned 50 percent duty on copper in the days before they are set to take effect on Friday next week, a person familiar with the matter said. That is the same date Trump’s “reciprocal” levies on products from more than 100 nations are slated to begin. Trump on Tuesday said that he is likely to impose tariffs
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us
RSS