The US remained the largest debtor to Taiwan’s financial holding firms in the second quarter, despite a significant drop in exposure, data released on Sunday by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed.
Financial holding firms’ total exposure to the US reached NT$9.56 trillion (US$319.54 billion) at the end of the second quarter, a NT$792.3 billion decline from the previous quarter.
Analysts attributed the drop, the steepest quarterly decline since records began in 2015, to US tariffs and a stronger New Taiwan dollar against the US dollar.
Photo: Reuters
International exposure includes interbank loans, lending and investment activities by Taiwan’s financial holding firms.
By the end of June, total international exposure by Taiwan’s financial holding firms fell to NT$27.02 trillion — a drop of NT$2.09 trillion, or 7.2 percent, from the end of March — the sharpest quarterly decline since records began.
China remained the second-largest debtor to Taiwan’s financial holding firms, with exposure falling to NT$1.896 trillion at the end of June, down NT$149.9 billion from the previous quarter, driven by simultaneous drops in interbank loans, lending and investments, the FSC said.
After the US and China, France ranked third in exposure at NT$1.28 trillion, followed by the UK at NT$1.27 trillion, Australia at NT$1.19 trillion, Japan at NT$1.13 trillion, South Korea at NT$1.07 trillion, Hong Kong at NT$925.6 billion, Canada at NT$867.4 billion and the United Arab Emirates at NT$561.9 billion, the data showed.
Among the top 10 debtors, Japan was the only country with a quarterly increase in exposure to Taiwanese financial holding firms, rising NT$12.31 billion due to increased investment, the FSC said.
While overseas exposure declined, Taiwan’s financial holding firms increased their domestic exposure by NT$1.12 trillion to NT$47.56 trillion at the end of June, it said.
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