The government yesterday unveiled incentives for private banks in the hopes that they would join state-run lenders in bailing out business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A deposit that banks are required to make to hedge against bad debts has been lowered from 1 percent to 0.5 percent of total accounts receivable when a bank issues a loan to a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) by tapping a NT$200 billion (US$6.64 million) fund provided by the central bank, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei.
That would allow the nation’s banks to save approximately NT$1 billion on such deposits, he said.
Photo: CNA
The commission has also set aside NT$180 million, or 2 percent, of a deposit insurance reserve fund to reward banks that help their clients secure loans from the central bank fund, Koo said.
The top three banks in number of loans issued, total amount of loans issued and fastest service on loans would have their deposit insurance premiums reduced, he said.
The money allocated for the rewards would likely be divided into portions of NT$90 million each, which would be tapped when banks are required to pay premiums in the second half of this and next year, he added.
In addition, processing fees for workers and small firms would be waived when they request loans from banks or are required to undergo credit history checks with the Joint Credit Information Center or the Taiwan Clearing House, Koo said.
This would save applicants about NT$300, he said.
As applications for subsidized loans available to workers and SMEs would be accepted until Dec. 31, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) was asked whether the preferential interest rates that accompany the packages would be canceled once they end.
If the pandemic does not abate after a prolonged period, the central bank would be able to double the fund to be loaned to workers and SMEs, Yang said, adding that he believes that the SME Credit Guarantee Fund of Taiwan, which offers loans of up to NT$150 million for SMEs, would be able to up the ante as well.
As of Monday, the nation’s eight state-owned banks had received 5,406 requests for loans from businesses and individuals, of which 3,300 requests totaling NT$40.2 billion had been granted, Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS