Vietnam became Taiwan’s the ninth largest debtor at the end of the third quarter, as growing tensions between Washington and Beijing prompted many enterprises to move to the Southeast Asian country, boosting demand for funds, according to Taiwan’s central bank.
Data released by the central bank Friday showed that as of the end of the July-September period, loans extended to Vietnam by Taiwan banks had climbed to US$14.86 billion, from US$13.49 billion at the end of the second quarter, on a direct risk basis.
With the increase, Vietnam replaced the United Kingdom as Taiwan’s ninth largest debtor, the central bank said.
At the end of the third quarter, the U.K.’s debt to Taiwanese banks stood at US$14.56 billion, the 10th highest on a direct risk basis, up from US$13.99 billion the previous quarter, the central bank’s data showed.
On an ultimate risk basis, which calculates a country’s consolidated debt after risk transfers, Vietnam’s debt to Taiwan banks was US$12.26 billion, while the U.K.’s was US$10.31 billion, at the end of the third quarter, according to the data.
Pan Ya-hui (???), deputy head of the central bank’s Examination Department, said that demand for funding has been growing in Vietnam, as an increasing number of enterprises seek to relocate their investments there from China.
Interbank loans in Vietnam rose in the third quarter, while syndicated loans also increased, amid the higher demand for funding, Pan said.
At the end of the third quarter, Taiwanese banks’ international claims totaled US$512.2 billion, up 1.61 percent from the previous quarter, on the back of an increase in loans extended to their foreign counterparts, the central bank said.
The United States remained the largest debtor to Taiwan’s banks at the end of the third quarter, with loans totaling US$116.32 billion, up from US$113.28 billion at the end of the second quarter, on a direct risk basis, the data showed.
The second largest debtor to Taiwan banks was China, with loans of US$58.77 billion, up from US$56.78 billion at the end of second quarter on a direct risk basis.
Luxembourg was third with US$43.00 billion on a direct risk basis, followed by Hong Kong (US$36.17 billion), Japan (US$33.74 billion), Australia (US$25.18 billion), the Cayman Islands (US$18.95 billion), Singapore (US$16.93 billion), the U.K, and Vietnam.
Loans extended by Taiwanese banks to the top 10 debtors totaled US$378.5 billion, accounting for 73.90 percent of the total international claims at the end of the third quarter, according to the central bank.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel