SOARING:Fitch Ratings said it expects Taiwan’s household debt-to-GDP ratio to grow to 84 percent over the next year, as banks have been aggressively extending loans

Taipei Times
Date: May 22, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The debt burden shouldered by the nation’s households was heavier than those in China and Hong Kong largely because of massive home mortgages, Fitch Ratings said on Saturday.

Fitch said in a report that the nation’s household debt accounted for 82.6 percent of GDP in the first half of last year, far higher than the 66.4 percent in Hong Kong and 41.8 percent in China.

Compared with neighboring economies, only South Korea beat Taiwan with a ratio of 90 percent, according to Fitch.

Since 2005, home mortgages have made up more than 50 percent of total household debt in Taiwan, with the ratio hitting a high of 73 percent in 2010 when home prices were soaring, but economic growth has since slowed, Fitch analyst Jenifer Chou (周筱娟) said.    [FULL  STORY]