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.
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