Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/10
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) Loan growth has slumped badly this year, undermined by a weakening economic climate that has dramatically reduced demand for funds, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

New loans made by Taiwan’s banking sector in the first eight months of 2015 totaled only NT$409.2 billion (US$12.44 billion), less than half of the NT$925.4 billion in new loans issued during the same period of last year, FSC statistics showed.

The weak loan demand reflected corporations’ reluctance to borrow and invest amid an unfavorable economic environment and a desire by some companies to deleverage their balance sheets by repaying debt rather than taking more of it on, the FSC said.