Average interest rates on new loans at the nation’s five major state-run banks last month shed 0.005 percentage points to 1.898 percent, as firms and individuals cut back on loans to cope with economic uncertainty, the central bank said yesterday.
The five state-run banks are the Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一銀行).
Lending related to government agencies also weighed on overall interest rates, as government agencies enjoy better credit profiles, lowering borrowing costs, the central bank said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Interest rates on loans for capital expenditure dropped 0.69 percentage points to 2.39 percent on average, as companies sought to cut expenses and refrained from expansions or investments in light of poor business visibility, weak end-market demand for technology products and prolonged inventory adjustments, it said.
Interest rates on new mortgages held steady at 2.098 percent on average after the central bank in June kept its policy rates unchanged, while unfavorable government real-estate policies helped tame a hot property market.
Meanwhile, interest rates on consumer loans fell 0.05 percentage points to 2.816 percent on average, as conservative sentiment extended to individual borrowers, the central bank said.
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