The US was Taiwan’s largest debtor for the 18th consecutive quarter at the end of December last year, as Taiwanese banks’ exposure to the US totaled US$89.75 billion, a record high on a direct-risk basis and up from US$79.25 billion at the end of September, data compiled by the central bank showed on Friday last week.
The growth in exposure largely reflected an increase in funds Taiwanese banks had parked in the US Federal Reserve and a rise in interbank loans to their US counterparts, the central bank said.
On an ultimate-risk basis, which calculates a country’s consolidated debts after risk transfers, Taiwanese banks’ exposure to the US stood at US$86.36 billion — the most among Taiwan’s debtor nations and up from US$77.08 billion a quarter earlier.
China was in second place, as outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks rose to US$47.44 billion on a direct-risk basis, up from US$43.84 billion a quarter earlier. On an ultimate-risk basis, exposure rose to US$68.07 billion from US$65.09 billion at the end of September, the data showed.
The central bank attributed the increase to an appreciating yuan and increasing investment in China during the three-month period.
Luxembourg came in third, with Taiwanese banks’ exposure on a direct-risk basis hitting US$41.46 billion — up from US$39.43 billion a quarter earlier — ahead of Hong Kong (US$35.78 billion) and Japan (US$33.13 billion).
Australia took the No. 6 position, with Taiwanese banks’ exposure at US$23.98 billion, followed by the UK (US$17.84 billion), the Cayman Islands (US$17.57 billion), Singapore (US$16.12 billion) and the British West Indies (US$12.52 billion).
As of the end of December, total outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks hit US$454 billion, up 4.56 percent from the end of September, the data showed.
Bank exposure to Taiwan’s top 10 debtors stood at US$335.6 billion, accounting for 73.93 percent of the country’s total international claims on a direct-risk basis, the central bank said.
Worldwide, the non-banking private sector accounted for 61.07 percent of Taiwan’s total international claims on a direct-risk basis, with the banking industry making up 30.16 percent and the public sector representing 8.76 percent, the data showed.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”