Taiwan's Domestic Bank Deposits Hit Record High NT$30.9 Trillion as of February

Taiwan's 39 domestic banks held deposits of a record high NT$30.93 trillion (US$1.031 trillion) as of the end of February, indicative of caution among depositors toward wealth management.

The statistics released by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) show the said banks held deposits of NT$28.9 trillion (US$963.33 billion) in January 2013, which grew to over NT$29 trillion (US$966.66 billion) in March and then NT$30 trillion (US$1 trillion) in September, again rising in March of this year to nearly NT$31 trillion (US$1.033 trillion).

Term deposits took the largest share of 40%, followed by passbook deposits and government treasury deposits. The top-5 holders of deposits were all government-linked banks as Bank of Taiwan (BOT), Taiwan Cooperative Bank, Land Bank of Taiwan, Mega International Commercial Bank, and Hua Nan Bank. Among them, BOT held deposits of NT$3.39 trillion (US$113 billion) and Taiwan Cooperative NT$2.4 trillion (US$80 billion).

As for private banks, CTBC Bank held the highest deposits of NT$1.72 trillion (US$57.33 billion) and Cathay United Bank the second highest of NT$1.61 trillion (US$53.67 billion).

In the same month the non-performing loan (NPL) ratios of the 39 banks were all sub-2% with average ratio being 0.35%, a new low of its kind, with average NPL coverage ratio hitting a record high of 352.08%. (JL)