Average NPL ratio of Taiwan's domestic banks hit 3-year low in Oct.

Taipei, Dec. 11, 2003 (CENS)--The average non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of domestic banks in Taiwan fell to 5.33% at the end of October, the lowest level of its kind since September 2000, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

MOF statistics indicated that the average NPL ratio of domestic banks broke the 5% mark in June of 1999 and then rose steadily to a record high of 8.04% in November of 2002.

As the MOF has requested that domestic banks cut their NPL ratios to under 5% by the end of this year, most banks have been actively writing off their NPLs, causing their NPL ratios to drop sharply.

At the end of October, as many as 31 domestic banks saw their NPL ratios fall under 5%, and the remaining 20 ones recorded NPL ratios of over 5%.