The latest monetary aggregate statistics from the central bank showed slightly improved growth last month from July, reflecting a continuous increase in bank loans and investments.
The M2 money supply indicator rose 2.11 percent last month from a year earlier, after the broadest measure of the nation’s monetary aggregates grew 1.45 percent in July, the tallies showed.
The M2 growth rate would be 2.02 percent last month after adjusting for the merger of China United Trust and Investment Corp (中聯信託) and Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), the central bank said in a statement yesterday.
M1B, which includes currency held by the public and deposit money, registered a 5.32 percent decline last month from a year earlier but recovered from a drop of 5.77 percent in July, its weakest since April 2001, indicating less outflow of net foreign capitals and the lower base of last year.
M2 includes M1B, time deposits, time savings deposits, foreign currency deposits and mutual funds.
Economists have said that negative M1B growth suggests domestic investors remain cautious about the equity outlook and would rather save money, in addition to the persistent problem of net foreign capital outflows.
Taiwan Stock Exchange data shows foreign investors sold a net NT$225.35 billion (US$7 billion) in the first eight months of the year, with the TAIEX declining 7.17 percent over that period.
Meanwhile, M1A, which tracks net currency in circulation plus checking accounts and passbook deposits, showed a decline of 0.51 percent last month from a year ago, after increasing 0.28 percent in July, the central bank said.
For the first eight months of the year, the M2 supply grew 1.75 percent compared with the same period last year, M1B dropped 2.57 percent year-on-year and M1A increased 1.05 percent.
Neither last month’s M2 growth rate nor that for the first eight months fell within the central bank’s revised target range of 2 percent to 6 percent, which it revised in July to reflect the nation’s liquidity situation.
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