Housing Loans Maintain Robust Growth

Taipei, Nov. 17, 2005 (CENS)--By the end of September this year, outstanding amount of housing loans extended by banks in Taiwan topped NT$3 trillion, up 14.8% over the same period of last year, according to the Bureau of Monetary Affairs, under the Financial Supervisory Commission.

During the same period, outstanding amount of consumer loans jumped 35.7%, surpassing the NT$1 trillion mark.

However, the growth of consumer loans came mainly from the expanded loans for the existing clients, as the phenomenal growth in the number of clients no longer exists.

In the first nine months this year, housing loans increased by NT$361.9 billion, while the number of housing-loan borrowers rose 160,000. After deducting loans for housing repair, auto loans, and group employee welfare loans, other consumer loans advanced only NT$189.4 billion in the first nine months this year and the number of loaning clients increased by 70,000, a far cry from the growth of NT$100 billion for consumer loans and 630,000 for loan clients in the fourth quarter of 2004.