cens logo

Taiwan's Forex Reserves Drop 18-Month Steepest to US$420.7B. in September

2014/10/16 | By Judy Li

Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves dropped US$2.37 billion from a month earlier to US$420.696 billion in September to post the largest decline in 18 months, according to Taiwan's  central bank.

The sizable reduction in forex reserves was mainly due to massive net outflow of foreign capital of US$3 billion and the oversold stock of NT$58.98 billion (US$1.97 billion) by foreign investors during the month, says a senior official at the central bank.

The major foreign currencies held by the central bank, including the euro, the Japanese yen, and the Australian dollar whose values depreciated against the greenback, also contributed to the plummeting forex reserves. During the month, the euro fell 3.68%, Australia dollar by 6.53%, New Zealand dollar by 7.21% and Japanese yen down by 5.12%; however, China's zenminbi (RMB) edged up by 0.06%.

In September Taiwan's stock and bonds held by foreigners amounted to US$279.9 billion, down US$22.9 billion from the previous month and accounted for 67% of the total forex reserves, with the ratio being a four-month  low.

In the same month other leading forex reserves holders including South Korea, Russia, Brazil and India also experienced monthly  falls of US$3.1 billion, US$8.4 billion, US$3.5 billion, and US$3 billion, respectively. (JL)