U.S. ranks top debtor to Taiwan's banks for 20th straight quarter

Taipei, Sept. 25 (CNA) The United States ranked as the largest debtor to banks in Taiwan for the 20th consecutive quarter at the end of June, the central bank said Friday.

Data compiled by the central bank showed outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks on the U.S. as of the end of June totaled US$91.90 billion, up about US$7.55 billion from a quarter earlier on a direct risk basis.

The growth came after the value of U.S.-based assets owned by Taiwanese banks increased in the wake of a significant rebound by U.S. stock markets at a time when the Federal Reserve eased its monetary policy to fight COVID-19, the central bank said.

On an ultimate risk basis, which calculates a country's consolidated debts after risk transfers, outstanding international claims by the local banking sector on the U.S. was also the largest at US$89.32 billion at the end of June, up from US$83.90 billion at the end of March, the data showed.

China was in second place, with the exposure of Taiwanese banks hitting US$47.77 billion as of the end of June, up from US$46.13 billion at the end of March on a direct risk basis, ahead of exposure to Luxembourg which reached US$37.51 billion for banks in Taiwan, up from US$32.02 billion, the data indicated.

Hong Kong dropped one notch to fourth place with exposure for Taiwanese banks down US$3.36 billion from three months earlier to US$33.67 billion at the end of June, according to the central bank.

The central bank said exposure to Hong Kong fell as local banks became more cautious about their lending after Beijing passed a national security law for the territory.

Japan took the fifth spot with exposure for Taiwanese banks at US$29.31 billion at the end of June, down from US$31.32 billion as of the end of March, followed by Australia (US$24.98 billion), the Cayman Islands (US$18.93 billion), the United Kingdom (US$18.21 billion), Singapore (US$15.52 billion), and the British West Indies (US$12.39 billion).

Bank exposure to Taiwan's top 10 debtors at the end of June stood at US$330.2 billion, accounting for 72.45 percent of the country's total international claims on a direct risk basis, the central bank said.

The non-banking private sector worldwide accounted for 58.71 percent of Taiwan's total international claims on a direct risk basis, with the banking industry making up 31.65 percent and the public sector representing 9.64 percent, the central bank said.