Banks had approved NT$1.25 trillion (NT$42.25 billion) in loans for 176,663 companies and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as of Wednesday last week, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed.
The amount of loans is expected to continue rising later this month, as the government’s relief programs have been extended to September, a commission official said by telephone yesterday.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ (MOEA) relief program, which subsidizes interest payments on loans, is to expire by the end of this month, but the ministry is considering allocating another NT$100 billion to help companies that are still reporting declining revenue in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) plans to allocate NT$13 billion to help hotels that are unable to recover from the impact of the pandemic this quarter.
As relief loans provided to firms under the MOEA’s and MOTC’s programs accounted for 99.9 percent of all loans under the government’s programs, it is very likely that if the two ministries extend support, there would be an increase in relief loans in the third quarter, the official said.
As of Wednesday last week, 44,886 firms received new loans or loan extensions totaling NT$449 billion under the MOEA’s program, while 1,063 tourism agencies, hotels and transportation firms obtained loans of NT$106 billion, the commission’s data showed.
As for affected companies that did not qualify for the government’s relief program, banks approved 90,093 applications for loan extensions or new loans totaling NT$503 billion, the data showed.
Banks also lent NT$192 billion to 40,602 individuals who were affected by the pandemic, the data showed.
State-run banks continued to be the main source of relief loans, with their combined lending totaling NT$968 billion, or 77 percent of the total.
They have extended loans to 118,454 firms and individuals, averaging NT$8.17 million per application, which is higher than private-sector banks’ average of NT$4.85 million per application, the data showed.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he