Annual Report 2021
Annual Report 2021
Taipei, Taiwan
Republic of China
Foreword
Entering the year of 2021, progress in vaccination campaigns led many major
activity to return to a more normal state and galvanizing the global economic
recovery. Against this backdrop, Taiwan's exports and private investment were
robust and the overall economic growth accelerated from 3.36% the previous year
to 6.45%, the fastest in nearly eleven years. Meanwhile, in addition to a lower base
effect, the annual growth rate of consumer price index (CPI) was also pushed up
by rising raw material prices including crude oil and by weather-induced price
hikes in food items such as fruit and vegetables, climbing from a negative 0.23% in
2020 to a positive 1.96% in 2021. Excluding fruit, vegetables, and energy, core CPI
inflation remained mild, with the annual growth rate reaching 1.33% compared to
Against this backdrop, the Bank continued with efforts to fulfill its legal
mandates. When the domestic COVID-19 cases flared up around mid-year, the
second draw of such a loan. When the banking sector continued racking up real
estate loans, the Bank reinforced the selective credit control measures introduced
in December 2020 for another three rounds to stem excessive credit flows into the
housing market and further rein in credit risk thereof, successfully slowing the growth
in construction and house-purchasing loans and bolstering banks' real estate credit
quality.
The Bank also continued to flexibly manage market liquidity through open
market operations. In 2021, bank loans and investments showed an annual growth
rate of 7.65% and the monetary aggregate M2 increased by 8.72% year on year. As
both figures were higher than the GDP growth rate of 6.45%, the financial system
safeguarding the value of the NT dollar. For the first half of 2021, excess supply
of the US dollar (USD) in the domestic forex market strengthened the NT dollar
(NTD) and amplified exchange rate volatility, whereas more balanced USD supply
and demand in the second half of the year kept the NTD-USD exchange rate
within a tight range. When the NT dollar exchange rate experienced heightened
the currency's dynamic stability, with a total of US$9.1 billion net purchases for the
year as a whole. At the end of 2021, the Bank held US$548.4 billion worth foreign
The Bank also took note of a marked increase in interbank retail payment
transactions and the opening of internet-only banks in Taiwan. In response, the Bank
better interconnectedness for cross-institution flows of data and funds, including the
flows among electronic payment (e-payment) institutions and those between them
and financial institutions. To that end, the Bank urged the Financial Information
Service Co., Ltd. (FISC) to set up the "shared platform for cross-institution electronic
payment," which began to provide funds transfer services from October 2021. With
the e-payment institutions all joining this platform, payment market efficiency has
further improved.
The Bank also carried on with its work to explore a potential central bank
digital currency (CBDC). We already found through the first phase research
completed in June 2020 on the feasibility of a wholesale CBDC that the distributed
ledger technology (DLT) has its downsides, particularly in that the DLT application
underway, with a pilot platform to simulate and test the CBDC's capabilities in retail
payment scenarios. The study is expected to conclude in September 2022, and the
findings will be disclosed in due course to invite discussion and public comments as
public via a website revamp in 2020, using the responsive web design technology
to provide improved viewer experience across devices and web accessibility. The
revamp also ushered in the Monetary and Financial Knowledge Hub (in Chinese
October 2021, the Bank also asked colleges and universities to promote the Hub to
the world's economic development and financial stability. The Bank will continue
to closely monitor and assess the economic and financial conditions at home and
abroad. Based on the assessment and committed to its legal mandates, the Bank
will take actions to preserve order in the forex market and dynamic stability of the
NT dollar exchange rate, and to adjust monetary and credit policies as needed.
The Bank was also mindful of a recent array of regulatory issues around the world
resulting from fast-growing digital currencies and crypto-assets and will keep close
Finally, I would like to thank my colleagues for their hard work in producing this
publication, which outlines the Bank's efforts as well as economic and financial
overviews for the year of 2021. Going forward, we remain devoted to fulfilling our
Chin-Long Yang
Governor
March 2022
CONTENTS
CBC Annual Report 2021
1. Overview 6
2. National Output and Income 9
3. Balance of Payments 14
4. Prices 20
5. Labor Market24
1. Overview 30
2. Banking Sector 33
3. Money Market 42
4. Foreign Exchange Market 47
5. Stock Markets 54
6. Bond Market 60
III. Central Bank Operations 65
1. Overview 66
2. Monetary Management 68
BOX Selective Credit Control Measures: Implementation and Results 73
Abbreviations 119
CBC Annual Report 2021
Board of Directors
Yen-Dar Den
Department of Issuing
Chairman Chin-Long Yang (Director General)
Executive Directors Jain-Rong Su
Mei-Hua Wang Chiung-Min Tsai
Tzung-Ta Yen Department of Foreign Exchange
(Director General)
Nan-Kuang Chen
Chung-Dar Lei
Pei-Jen Heh
Directors Chi-Chung Chen Department of the Treasury
(Director General)
Chao-Yih Chen
Fu-Sheng Hung
Yi-Ting Li Dou-Ming Su
Department of Financial Inspection
(Director General)
Jin-Lung Lin
Shi-Kuan Chen
Chao-Hsi Huang Yih-Jiuan Wu
Department of Economic Research
Chien-Yi Chang (Director General)
Shiu-Sheng Chen
Chien-Ching Liang
Secretariat
(Director General)
Shu-Hui Kuo
Department of Accounting
(Director General)
Governor
Chin-Long Yang Department of Information Rey-Shyun Lee
Management (Director General)
Deputy
Governors Shu-Hui Chang
Personnel Office
(Director)
Tzung-Ta Yen
Nan-Kuang Chen
Wen-Ching Wang
Ethics Office
(Director)
Kun-Shan Wu
Legal Affairs Office
(Director)
Sheng-Shang Chou
Central Mint
(Director)
1
CBC Annual Report 2021
Chairman
Board of Directors
Governor
Chin-Long Yang
2
CBC Annual Report 2021
3
CBC Annual Report 2021
Chairman
Board of Supervisor
Tzer-Ming Chu
Supervisor Supervisor
Ching-Fan Chung Sheng-Yao Lin
Supervisor Supervisor
Tien-Wang Tsaur Kuei-Hui Cheng
4
CBC Annual Report 2021
Developments in
the Real Economy
5
I. Developments in the Real Economy
1. Overview
2021 marked the year when Taiwan recorded the fastest pace of economic growth since 2011,
as robust growth in private investment and exports and a pickup in government spending helped
the economy to expand by 6.45% from the 3.36% registered the year before. Meanwhile, Taiwan
maintained a healthy balance of payments, including a continued current account surplus and a
net asset increase in the financial account. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.96%, the largest
annual increase since 2009 owing to higher fuel and lubricant fees shored up by international crude
oil price surges, rises in airfares and fruit and vegetable prices, and a lower base effect. The core
CPI (excluding fruit, vegetables, and energy) showed a mild increase of 1.33%. The labor market
was dampened by a surge in domestic COVID-19 infections around the middle of the year that hit
services sector jobs with a tightening of containment measures. The unemployment rate went up to
3.95%, the highest since 2015, whereas non-farm monthly real earnings per worker still posted a 0.96%
increase, taking it to a historical high of NT$53,445.
In the first quarter of 2021, exports and private investment both gathered steam amid a global
economic recovery and strong demand for emerging technology applications, while private
consumption rebounded and government spending picked up steadily. Combined, they helped
drive the economic growth rate towards an all-year high of 9.20%. In the following two quarters,
despite the continued expansion in exports and private investment, a domestic COVID-19 flare-up
in mid-May dragged private consumption into negative growth, thus slowing down the economic
expansion to a pace of 4.37% for the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, though, private consumption
was reinvigorated by the lifting of pandemic restrictions after the outbreak eased and also boosted
by the government's consumption stimulus measures. The rebound, along with continued export and
private investment growth, brought about a faster economic expansion at 4.86% year on year. For
the year as a whole, Taiwan's economy posted an annual growth rate of 6.45%, significantly higher
than the previous year's 3.36%.
Among the GDP expenditure components, domestic demand played the key role in driving
economic growth in 2021. With a faster pickup in fixed capital formation – fueled by increases in
tech giants' capital outlays and continued progress in infrastructure projects to facilitate green
energy and 5G network development – and a mild expansion in government spending, domestic
demand contributed 4.55 percentage points to the GDP growth, higher than the 0.68 percentage
6
CBC Annual Report 2021
point contribution the previous year. Regarding external demand, in addition to solid export growth,
imports were also spurred markedly by derived demand from exports and investment as well as
surging international raw material prices. On balance, the contribution from net foreign demand
shrank to 1.90 percentage points from 2.67 percentage points the previous year.
The domestic investment rate (gross domestic investment to GDP) rose from 24.19% a year
before to 26.85% in 2021, a record high unseen since 2001, thanks to a significant expansion in
private investment. By contrast, a slump in private consumer spending amid domestic COVID-19
outbreaks led the national saving rate (gross national saving to gross national income) to rise from
38.39% a year ago to 42.22%. Overall, with national saving rising faster than domestic investment, the
excess saving rate (the difference between saving and investment as a percentage of GDP) went
up from 15.31% in 2020 to 16.19% in 2021.
In 2021, Taiwan continued to record a healthy balance of payments. The current account posted
a surplus of US$116,123 million, the financial account had a net asset increase of US$104,604 million,
and the Bank's reserve assets showed an increase of US$20,993 million.
On the current account, goods imports and exports both registered strong growth, with
exports increasing more than imports. This led the goods trade surplus to rise from the previous
year's US$75,028 million to US$90,120 million, accounting for the largest contribution to the
widening of the current account surplus. The services account surplus climbed to a historical
high of US$12,314 million from the previous year's US$3,754 million, mainly bolstered by a surge in
freight proceeds. The primary income surplus shrank from US$19,328 million to US$16,390 million,
reflecting a decrease in banks' interest income and an increase in payments for nonresidents'
portfolio investment income. The secondary income deficit narrowed from US$3,154 million to
US$2,701 million. For the year of 2021, the ratio of current account surplus to nominal GDP rose
from the 14.2% of the previous year to 15.0%.
On the financial account, portfolio investment recorded a net asset increase of US$101,281 million.
Among the components, residents' portfolio investment abroad increased by a net amount of
US$81,194 million, mainly because domestic insurers and banks stepped up holdings of foreign
securities. Inward portfolio investment by nonresidents posted a net decrease of US$20,087 million,
mainly because foreign investors shed their local stock holdings. Direct investment registered a net
increase of US$4,703 million, of which direct investment abroad by residents declined to
US$10,108 million and nonresidents' inward direct investment also dropped to US$5,405 million. In
terms of other investment, it posted a net asset decrease of US$1,094 million.
7
I. Developments in the Real Economy
Rising Inflation
Internationally, global demand was boosted by economic reopening in many countries as the
vaccination coverage increased, while raw material prices were pushed up by persisting supply
chain bottlenecks. These external factors and a lower base effect combined to result in a 9.44%
year-on-year rise in Taiwan's wholesale price index (WPI), the largest annual increase since 1981. Of
the components, imported goods, domestic sales excluding imports, and exported goods recorded
price rises of 10.53%, 12.24%, and 6.54%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the CPI annual growth rate reached 1.96%, a record high since 2009, mainly
owing to supply-side factors such as price surges in fuel and lubricants, flight tickets, and fruit and
vegetables, as well as a lower base effect. The core inflation was still mild, rising by 1.33% year on
year.
In the middle of May 2021, the domestic coronavirus flare-up triggered a level-3 alert with
a tightening of containment measures. The labor market took a hit, with the unemployment
rate rising from the 3.66% early in the year to 4.80% in June. As the outbreak came under
control and the related restrictions were eased, the unemployment rate trended downwards
and reached 3.64% in December, bringing the all-year average to 3.95%, albeit still the highest
since 2015. The average labor force participation rate slid by 0.12 percentage points to 59.02%,
declining for two years in a row.
The average number of employed persons decreased by 57 thousand, or 0.49%, to 11,447 thousand.
The services sector suffered the greatest loss owing to the pandemic, losing 32 thousand persons in
employment, or 0.47%, compared to the previous year. Employment of the industrial and agricultural
sectors decreased by 17 thousand, or 0.43%, and by 6 thousand, or 1.13%, respectively.
In terms of wages, the average non-farm (industrial and services sectors) monthly earnings per
employee increased by 2.94% year on year to NT$55,754, where the industrial sector saw a 5.82%
increase and the services sector only recorded a 0.95% rise. Adjusted for inflation, real monthly
earnings still climbed to a historical high of NT$53,445, up by 0.96% from a year ago. Meanwhile, as
growth in production far exceeded growth in total working hours, labor productivity indices of the
industrial sector and the manufacturing industry exhibited significant year-on-year rises of 11.72% and
12.51%, respectively. Meanwhile, unit labor costs decreased by 5.73% in the industrial sector and 6.26%
in the manufacturing sector, reflecting smaller gains in total earnings than those in production.
8
CBC Annual Report 2021
In 2021, Taiwan's economy grew at an annual rate of 6.45%, higher than the 3.36% of the previous
year. Domestic demand served as the leading force for economic expansion and contributed 4.55
percentage points to real GDP growth. This was in part due to a robust increase in fixed capital
formation as well as an expansion in government consumption. In terms of external demand,
both exports and imports achieved double-digit growth, and thus net exports grew moderately
and contributed 1.90 percentage points to real GDP growth. In the meantime, nominal GNI (gross
national income, in US dollars) rose by 14.67% and per capita GNI increased from US$29,202 to
US$33,638 over the year 2021.
In the first quarter, real GDP recorded the highest level of growth over the year at 9.20%. Private
consumption regained its growth momentum, and government consumption grew at a steady
pace. A tremendous increase in private investment was driven by expansions in machinery and
equipment investment and construction investment. Meanwhile, exports grew robustly owing to
emerging technology applications (e.g., 5G telecommunication, high performance computing,
and automotive electronics) and business opportunities arising from the stay-at-home economy.
In the second quarter, real GDP growth declined slightly to 7.76%. Growth momentum in private
consumption retreated as the government raised the COVID-19 alert level to curb the pandemic.
Yet, growth in government consumption, private investment, and exports remained strong amid a
spike in infections in mid-May.
In the third quarter, growth in real GDP declined further to 4.37% while the impact of COVID-19
on private consumption worsened. In response to the pandemic, the government revised up
the budget for epidemic prevention, relief, etc. and thereby boosted government consumption.
6
30,000
5
25,000
4
3
20,000
2
15,000
1
0 10,000
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Source: Statistical Abstract of National Income, DGBAS, Executive Yuan, Source: Statistical Abstract of National Income, DGBAS, Executive Yuan,
February 2022. February 2022.
9
I. Developments in the Real Economy
Benefiting from higher semiconductor capital expenditures and the construction of 5G networks and
offshore wind power plants, growth in private investment strengthened further. In the meantime, the
global economic recovery and business opportunities arising from emerging technology applications
and digital transformation-related products provided favorable conditions for export growth. In the
fourth quarter, real GDP growth improved slightly and reached 4.86%. Of note, private consumption
resumed positive growth as the pandemic eased off; the growth was partly fueled by the fiscal
stimulus program. The combination of production capacity enhancement, green energy investment,
and transportation procurement resulted in another quarter of strong growth for private investment.
Meanwhile, the holiday shopping season effect in Western countries, together with emerging
technology applications and demand for digital transformation, bolstered export growth in the
fourth quarter.
All expenditure components of GDP, except private consumption, recorded positive growth
in 2021. Among all the components, exports of goods and services was the primary source of
economic growth and contributed 9.89 percentage points to real GDP growth for the year. Gross
fixed capital formation and government consumption contributed to real GDP growth by 3.55 and
0.53 percentage points, respectively. Private consumption, on the other hand, was a drag of 0.18
percentage points on real GDP growth. With respect to shares of GDP, exports of goods and services
remained to account for the largest share of GDP at 66.32%, followed by private consumption at
44.69% and gross fixed capital formation at 26.03%.
GDP by Expenditure
Unit: %
2021 2020
Caused by a surge in COVID-19 cases, private consumption fell sharply in the second and
10
CBC Annual Report 2021
the third quarters and then recovered in the last quarter of 2021. For the year as a whole, private
consumption grew at an annual rate of -0.38%, considerably better than the -2.53% of 2020, and
contributed -0.18 percentage points to real GDP growth.
Because of travel restrictions, consumers were induced to reallocate spending away from
outbound tourism to domestic consumption, and therefore private consumption grew by 2.66% in
the first quarter. However, the domestic pandemic situation took a sharp turn for the worse in May
and forced the government to tighten COVID-19 restrictions. As a consequence, consumers cut
back spending on domestically-oriented service activity; private consumption then dropped by
0.46% in the second quarter. The pandemic-
induced disruptions continued into the second Real Growth Rate
half of the year, and catering, retail, and of Private Consumption Expenditure
%
transportation industries were particularly hard 6
the fourth quarter. Source: Statistical Abstract of National Income, DGBAS, Executive Yuan,
February 2022.
Fixed capital formation grew robustly at an annual rate of 14.68% and contributed 3.55
percentage points to real GDP growth. The growth was attributed to higher demand for 5G
infrastructure investment, continuing investment
in green energy-related projects, and the 5HDO*URZWK5DWH
expansion of production capacity in Taiwan by
RI)L[HG&DSLWDO)RUPDWLRQ
leading technology firms.
11
I. Developments in the Real Economy
two quarters, respectively. Stable growth in transportation investment, machinery and equipment
investment and construction investment continued to push fixed capital formation to a higher level
in the second half of the year. The growth rates of fixed capital formation were 21.40% and 11.72% in
the last two quarters of the year, respectively.
In terms of the type of fixed capital formation, a boom in the technology industry resulted in a
high growth rate of 29.26% for machinery and equipment investment, while construction investment
grew steadily at an annual rate of 8.33% in 2021. Transportation investment, on the other hand, also
achieved a double-digit growth rate of 14.64% owing to the procurement of rail vehicles, vessels,
and aircrafts by local carriers. Lastly, investment in intellectual property remained relatively stable
and increased by 3.07% for the entire year.
In light of the global economic recovery and business opportunities arising from emerging
technology applications, exports of goods and services grew notably by 17.04% for the entire year,
supported by exports of traditional manufacturing goods and electronic goods. On balance, exports
of goods and services contributed 9.89 percentage points to real GDP growth in 2021.
In the first half of the year, emerging technology applications began to prevail, and COVID-19
accelerated the development of digital transformation; at the same time, demand for traditional
manufacturing goods gradually recovered. Driven by those positive factors, exports grew by
21.74% and 22.51% in the first two quarters,
respectively. In the second half of the year,
5HDO*URZWK5DWHVRI([SRUWVDQG,PSRUWV
widespread vaccinations around the world ([SRUWV ,PSRUWV
slowly brought global trade activity back
to nor mal, thereby stimulating demand for
quarter.
Turning to the imports of goods and services, the combination of stronger demand for capital
equipment and an increase in export-derived demand caused imports to rise remarkably by 17.86%
for the entire year.
12
CBC Annual Report 2021
gross national saving and gross domestic Source: Statistical Abstract of National Income, DGBAS, Executive Yuan,
February 2022.
investment as a share of GDP rose from 15.31%
in 2020 to 16.19% in 2021.
13
I. Developments in the Real Economy
3. Balance of Payments
In 2021, Taiwan's current account registered a record surplus of US$116,123 million, which
accounted for 15.0% of nominal GDP, up from 14.2% in the previous year. The financial account
posted a net asset increase of US$104,604 million. The reserves and related items recorded a surplus
of US$20,993 million, which was reflected in the increase in foreign reserve assets held by the Bank.
Balance of Payments
Unit: US$million
(1) (2)
(1)-(2)
2021 2020
A. Current account 116,123 94,956 21,167
Goods: credit (exports) 459,068 342,489 116,579
Goods: debit (imports) 368,948 267,461 101,487
Balance on goods 90,120 75,028 15,092
Services: credit (exports) 52,012 41,211 10,801
Services: debit (imports) 39,698 37,457 2,241
Balance on services 12,314 3,754 8,560
Primary income: credit 38,364 38,446 -82
Primary income: debit 21,974 19,118 2,856
Balance on primary income 16,390 19,328 -2,938
Secondary income: credit 8,707 7,945 762
Secondary income: debit 11,408 11,099 309
Balance on secondary income -2,701 -3,154 453
B. Capital account 3 -9 12
C. Financial account 104,604 46,251 58,353
Direct investment: assets 10,108 11,500 -1,392
Equity and investment fund shares 10,007 10,942 -935
Debt instruments 101 558 -457
Direct investment: liabilities 5,405 6,053 -648
Equity and investment fund shares 2,614 5,528 -2,914
Debt instruments 2,791 525 2,266
Portfolio investment: assets 81,194 36,153 45,041
Equity and investment fund shares 19,721 2,003 17,718
Debt securities 61,473 34,150 27,323
Portfolio investment: liabilities -20,087 -22,881 2,794
Equity and investment fund shares -21,189 -23,212 2,023
Debt securities 1,102 331 771
Financial derivatives: assets -21,822 -20,563 -1,259
Financial derivatives: liabilities -21,536 -20,997 -539
Other investment: assets 18,780 -808 19,588
Other investment: liabilities 19,874 17,856 2,018
D. Net errors and omissions 9,471 -354 9,825
E. Reserves and related items* 20,993 48,342 -27,349
Note: * Excluding valuation changes in exchange rates.
Source: Balance of Payments, CBC, February 2022.
14
CBC Annual Report 2021
In ter ms of Taiwan's trade with Mainland China, the value of exports amounted to
US$188,905 million in 2021, 24.8% higher than the previous year. As a manufacturing center of
the world, Mainland China remained Taiwan's largest trading partner, though its share of total
exports dropped to 42.3%. Among major export products, electronic parts and components
maintained the leading role, which benefited from increasing use of emerging technologies.
Imports from Mainland China grew by 29.9% to US$84,171 million in 2021, though its share of total
imports shrank to 22.1%. The increase mainly came from electronic parts and components and
information, communication and audio-video products as a result of stronger export-derived
demand. As the increase in exports exceeded that in imports, the trade surplus with Mainland
China increased to US$104,734 million in 2021, still the largest source of Taiwan's trade surplus.
Exports to the ASEAN economies increased to US$70,246 million in 2021, up by 32.0% with a
strong export performance of electronic parts and components and mineral products. Imports from
the ASEAN economies increased by 31.4% to US$47,169 million, accounting for 12.4% of total imports,
as imports of iron and steel and articles thereof and mineral products rose. Overall, the trade surplus
with the ASEAN economies rose to US$23,076 million. Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines were
the third, fourth, and fifth largest sources of Taiwan's trade surplus, respectively.
1 Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and
Vietnam.
15
I. Developments in the Real Economy
In 2021, Taiwan's exports to the US grew 30.0% to US$65,696 million, comprising a slightly higher
share of 14.7% in total exports compared to the year before. The increase mainly came from
information, communication and audio-video products. As for imports from the US, the amount
increased by 20.2% to US$39,075 million, with its share in total imports decreasing to 10.3%. The major
products contributing to the expansion were mineral products and machinery. The trade surplus with
the US expanded to US$26,621 million for the year, ranking second among Taiwan's surplus sources.
Exports to Europe increased by 36.8% to US$38,491 million, with its share of total exports
increasing to 8.6%. The major products contributing to this expansion were iron and steel and articles
thereof, and information, communication and audio-video products. Imports from Europe increased
by 28.4% to US$47,230 million and the share of total imports decreased to 12.4%, with machinery and
mineral products being the main sources of this increase. In all, Taiwan's trade deficit with Europe
expanded to US$8,739 million in 2021.
Exports to Japan increased by 6.5% to US$29,212 million and its share in Taiwan's total exports
slightly decreased to 6.5%. Imports from Japan increased by 22.3% to US$56,146 million as its share
of total imports decreased to 14.7%. Both exports to and imports from Japan owed their year-
on-year increases to electronic parts and components. The trade deficit with Japan widened
to US$26,934 million. Japan remained Taiwan's second largest source of imports and the largest
source of trade deficit in 2021.
Unit: %
2021 2020
Amount Annual Amount Annual
Share Share
(US$million) Change (US$million) Change
Exports
Mainland China (including Hong Kong) 188,905 42.3 24.8 151,381 43.9 14.6
ASEAN 70,246 15.7 32.0 53,215 15.4 -1.3
US 65,696 14.7 30.0 50,550 14.6 9.3
Europe 38,491 8.6 36.8 28,143 8.2 -5.5
Japan 29,212 6.5 24.8 23,398 6.8 0.5
Rest of the World 53,893 12.1 40.2 38,438 11.1 -12.3
Total 446,443 100.0 29.4 345,126 100.0 4.9
Imports
Mainland China (including Hong Kong) 84,171 22.1 29.9 64,808 22.6 10.9
Japan 56,146 14.7 22.3 45,901 16.0 4.2
US 39,075 10.3 20.2 32,514 11.4 -6.7
Europe 47,230 12.4 28.4 36,797 12.9 0.7
ASEAN 47,169 12.4 31.4 35,901 12.5 2.7
Rest of the World 107,230 28.1 52.7 70,227 24.5 -8.6
Total 381,022 100.0 33.2 286,148 100.0 0.2
Source : Monthly Statistics of Exports and Imports, Ministry of Finance, R.O.C. (Taiwan).
16
CBC Annual Report 2021
(2) Services
In 2021, services registered a record surplus of US$12,314 million, up from US$3,754 million in the
previous year, mainly because of an increase in freight transport receipts.
In terms of maintenance and repair services n.i.e. (not included elsewhere), which covers
maintenance and repair work for or by nonresidents on ships, aircraft, and other transport
equipment, the receipts declined by US$379 million to US$901 million owing to decreased receipts
from aircraft repairs. On the other hand, the payments increased by US$145 million to US$894 million.
In all, the surplus on this account narrowed from US$531 million to US$7 million.
Transport receipts hit a record high, which increased by US$8,716 million to US$19,739 million,
reflecting increases in international freight proceeds as active global trade and supply chain
bottlenecks led to an increase in freight rates. Transport payments decreased by US$99 million to
US$9,582 million as a result of declines in passenger fares paid to foreign airlines. Overall, the surplus
of transport services in 2021 increased substantially from US$1,342 million to US$10,157 million.
Travel receipts decreased by US$1,015 million to US$785 million. Meanwhile, travel payments
decreased by US$1,799 million to US$1,247 million. As many countries kept border controls in place
during the pandemic, numbers of inbound visitors and outbound travelers remained low. In all, the
deficit on the travel account narrowed to US$462 million.
In terms of other services, the receipts grew by US$2,970 million to US$26,274 million, while the
payments grew by US$3,482 million to US$25,931 million, both mainly attributable to the increase in
professional and management consulting services (which is under other business services). Overall,
the surplus of other services narrowed to US$343 million in 2021.
Primary income consists of compensation of employees, investment income, and other primary
income. In 2021, primary income receipts decreased by US$82 million to US$38,364 million, mainly
because of a reduction in banks' interest receipts. Meanwhile, primary income payments increased
to US$21,974 million, US$2,856 million more than the previous year. This was mostly attributable to
an increase in portfolio investment income paid to nonresidents. Consequently, the surplus on the
2 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others includes the processing, assembly, labeling, and packing undertaken by a service provider that
does not own the goods; namely a resident's payments to a nonresident for providing these services for the resident who is also the owner of the goods
concerned.
17
I. Developments in the Real Economy
primary income account declined to US$16,390 million for the year of 2021.
For the year of 2021, secondary income receipts amounted to US$8,707 million, reflecting
increases in gifts and samples. Secondary income payments amounted to US$11,408 million, mainly
owing to increases in outward family support allowances. As a whole, the deficit on the secondary
income account narrowed to US$2,701 million in 2021.
The capital account includes capital transfers and the acquisition and disposal of non-
produced, non-financial assets. In 2021, the balance of the capital account grew from a deficit to
a surplus of US$3 million.
On the other hand, local portfolio investment by nonresidents decreased by US$20,087 million
as foreign investors reduced holdings of Taiwanese stocks. Equity and investment fund shares
decreased by US$21,189 million. Debt securities increased by US$1,102 million.
18
CBC Annual Report 2021
The foreign exchange reserve assets held by the Bank increased by US$20,993 million in 2021,
mainly owing to returns from foreign exchange reserves management.
19
I. Developments in the Real Economy
4. Prices
The WPI went up by 9.44% in 2021, the highest level since 1981. The marked increase reflected
rising global demand owing to a reopening of major economies led by progress on vaccinations
against COVID-19, and lingering supply chain bottlenecks pushing up international goods prices,
coupled with a lower base effect. In terms of monthly movements, the annual WPI inflation rate
trended upwards from the beginning of the year and reached an all-year high of 15.21% in October
because of higher import prices. Later, the increase in the annual WPI inflation rate abated and
narrowed to 12.46% in December.
Broken down by the three major components of the WPI, the annual rates of change in prices
for imports, domestic sales excluding imports, and exports ran up markedly in 2021 on account of
soaring prices of international raw materials.
Import prices, weighted at 34.10% of the WPI, rose by 16.63% in US dollar terms in 2021. As the
NT dollar appreciated against the US dollar over 2021, the annual growth rate of import prices eased
to a 10.53% increase in NT dollar terms, which mitigated imported inflationary pressures at home.
Among the components of import prices in terms of the NT dollar, prices of raw materials went up by
16.20% and accounted for 11.40 percentage points in the import price increase, mainly boosted by
rising prices of mineral products, base metal products and chemical products. Nonetheless, prices of
capital goods and consumer goods declined by 4.59% and 0.91%, respectively.
20
CBC Annual Report 2021
-10
moved up by 7.88%, contributing 6.80 percentage
-15
points to the export price increase, primarily
-20
reflecting higher prices of mineral products, 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10
2019 2020 2021
chemical products, as well as base metal Source: Price Statistics Monthly, DGBAS, Executive Yuan.
Driven by rising import costs of primary commodities, prices of domestic sales excluding imports,
weighted at 25.70% of the WPI, increased by 12.24% in 2021. In terms of the basic groups, prices of
manufacturing products rose by 14.36%, mainly attributable to surging prices of base metal products
and petroleum and coal products. Prices of agriculture, forestry, fishing, and animal husbandry
products, and prices of water, electricity, and gas supply went up by 8.32% and 0.43%, respectively.
In contrast, prices of quarrying and mining products registered a decrease of 2.59%.
Compared with a slight decrease of 0.23% in the previous year, the CPI rose by 1.96% in 2021,
the highest increase since 2009. The CPI inflation rate trended up from the beginning of the year
and reached 2.62% in December, which marked the fifth consecutive month of an increase above
2%. The uptrend in CPI inflation was associated
with an increase in domestic fuel prices amid
international oil price upswings since the start Annual CPI Rates
of the year, a spike in fruit and vegetables % CPI Core CPI
3
1.33% in 2021. With the pandemic situation Source: Price Statistics Monthly, DGBAS, Executive Yuan.
21
I. Developments in the Real Economy
under control at home, domestic demand gradually rebounded, leading the core inflation rate to
trend up mildly and register 1.84% in December.
(3) Owing to crop damage caused by torrential rain and a typhoon in June and August, prices of
vegetables and of fruit moved up by 14.01% and 4.56%, and accounted for 0.19 and 0.09 percentage
points in the CPI inflation rate, respectively.
(4) Prices of residential rent continued a mild uptrend and grew by 0.83%, contributing 0.12 percentage
points to CPI inflation.
(5) With imported beef prices surging because of global supply chain bottlenecks and prices of pork
rallying on tighter domestic pig supplies as rising feed costs hit pig farmers' margins, prices of meat
rose by 4.05%, contributing 0.09 percentage points to CPI inflation.
(6) Less discounted clothing drove up prices of garments by 2.54%, accounting for 0.09 percentage
points in the CPI inflation rate.
(7) Price hikes by food and beverage service providers to reflect higher raw food costs pushed up prices
of food away from home by 0.87%, contributing 0.09 percentage points to CPI inflation.
(8) An increase in tour group fees on account of growing demand for travel amid the eased pandemic
situation at home, as well as a lower base effect, caused prices of entertainment services to grow by
1.66%, accounting for 0.09 percentage points in the CPI inflation rate.
(9) Reflecting an upswing in prices of raw material imports, prices of household appliances went up by
1.42%, contributing 0.06 percentage points to CPI inflation.
22
CBC Annual Report 2021
The main factor contributing to downward pressure on the CPI in 2021 was the decline in prices
of communication equipment. Dragged down by discount promotions for mobile phones, prices of
communication equipment dropped by 8.25% year on year, subtracting 0.04 percentage points from
CPI inflation.
23
I. Developments in the Real Economy
5. Labor Market
Decrease in Employment
As the domestic COVID-19 case spike in mid-May 2021 led to a tightening of containment
measures that battered the labor market, employment decreased from 11.53 million persons in the
beginning of the year to 11.30 million persons in June. Afterwards, employment gradually picked up
month by month along with the easing of restrictions as the domestic outbreak came under control. For
the year as a whole, annual average employment was 11.45 million persons, a decrease of 57 thousand
persons or 0.49% from the previous year, marking the first year-on-year decline since 2010.
In terms of employment by sector, the services sector was the most severely affected by the
tightened containment measures in response to the domestic COVID-19 flare-up, with employment
decreasing by 32 thousand persons or 0.47%. Within this sector, sharper declines were recorded in
wholesale and retail trade, down by 21 thousand persons, and in accommodation and food service
activities, down by 15 thousand persons.
Employment in the industrial sector decreased
(PSOR\PHQWDQG
by 17 thousand persons or 0.43%. Within this
8QHPSOR\PHQW5DWH
sector, employment in manufacturing registered 3HUVRQV (PSOR\PHQW OHIW 8QHPSOR\PHQW5DWH ULJKW
the largest job losses with 21 thousand persons
less. Employment in the agricultural sector
also went down by six thousand persons or
1.13%. Of total employment, the services sector
3 Including legislators, senior officials, managers, professionals, technicians, associate professionals, and clerical support workers.
4 Including skilled workers in agricultural, forestry, fishing, and animal husbandry industries, and craft and machinery-related workers.
24
CBC Annual Report 2021
caseloads in May 2021, the unemployment
rate rose sharply from 3.66% in the beginning
of the year to 4.80% in June, the highest since
November 1999, and then gradually moved
do w n t o 3.64% in Dec e m b er a s d om e st ic
economic activity recovered amid an
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improving pandemic situation. For the year as a -RE6HHNHUV 6KULQNDJHRU ZLWK 7HPSRUDU\:RUN
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whole, the unemployment rate was 3.95%, the
6RXUFH'*%$6([HFXWLYH<XDQ
With the government's support measures5 to mitigate the pandemic's impacts on the labor market,
unemployment duration decreased by 2.39 weeks over the previous year to 20.24 weeks. In terms of
age groups, unemployment duration of the age group 45-64 improved the most and decreased by
4.51 weeks to 19.30 weeks, followed by the 16.99 weeks for the age group 15-24 with a decrease of 1.69
weeks. The unemployment duration of the age group 25-34 decreased by 1.67 weeks to 22.32 weeks.
Meanwhile, the average number of the long-term unemployed6 was 50 thousand persons, a decrease
of five thousand persons compared to that in the previous year.
In terms of causes of unemployment, total unemployment in 2021 was 471 thousand persons,
increasing by 11 thousand or 2.39% from the previous year, mainly because unemployment of
experienced job seekers, with a 79.88% share of total unemployment, increased by 18 thousand
persons or 5.03%. Among them, unemployment because of shrinkage or closedown of business
recorded the greatest increase by 34 thousand persons or 25.50%, and its share of total
unemployment also grew from 28.69% the previous year to 35.16%, reflecting a rise in this type
of involuntary unemployment as a result of the impacts of the pandemic. On the other hand,
unemployment because of dissatisfaction with their original jobs accounted for the second
largest share of total unemployment at 33.38%, dropping by 14 thousand persons or 8.08%.
Meanwhile, unemployment because of conclusion of seasonal or temporary work decreased by
four thousand persons or 9.21%, with a share of 7.26%.
In terms of age groups, the unemployment rates of the age groups 25-44 and 45-64 edged up
by 0.02 and 0.22 percentage points from the previous year to 3.96% and 2.52%, respectively. The
5 Including extending the immediate part-time job program for workers impacted by COVID-19, measures to encourage youth employment and subsidize
employers to hire young people, support measures for workers who are self-employed or without definite employers, "Relief Loans for Workers" program, and
"the Recharge and Restart Training Program" for furloughed employees, and launching support measures for full-time and part-time employees, etc.
6 Referring to those who have been unemployed for 53 weeks or more.
25
I. Developments in the Real Economy
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unemployment rate of the age group 15-24 also went up by 0.50 percentage points to 12.11%, the
highest among all the age groups.
In terms of educational background, the unemployment rates of people rose for all groups
in 2021. For people with a junior high school diploma or below, a senior high school or vocational
school diploma, and a college degree or above, the unemployment rates increased by 0.12, 0.21,
and 0.02 percentage points to 2.97%, 3.77%, and 4.32%, respectively.
Affected by structural demographic change driven by a declining fertility rate and an aging
population in Taiwan and hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the labor force (employed and
unemployed combined) shrank by 45 thousand persons, or 0.38%, to 11.91 million persons in 2021,
the first contraction since records began in 1978. In contrast, the non-labor force grew by seven
thousand persons, or 0.09%, to 8.27 million
persons. The average labor force participation
/DERU)RUFH3DUWLFLSDWLRQ5DWH
rate edged down by 0.12 percentage points $OO 0DOH )HPDOH
over the previous year to 59.02% in 2021,
recording two consecutive years of decline.
26
CBC Annual Report 2021
reflecting that government policies have been effective in promoting gender equality, improving
the work environment, and facilitating female employment in recent years.
In terms of age groups, the labor participation rate of the age group 25-44 went down by
0.17 percentage points to 89.35%, while those of the age groups 16-24 and 45-64 increased
by 0.28 and 0.65 percentage points to 36.81% and 64.65%, respectively. Taiwan's labor force
participation rate, in its second year of decline owing to the pandemic, remained lower than
those of the United States (61.7%), Japan (62.1%), South Korea (62.8%), and Singapore (70.5%),
attributable to structural factors such as the extension of schooling and early retirement.
In terms of education background, the labor force participation rates of workers with a junior
high school diploma or below and those with a senior high school or vocational school diploma
dropped by 1.46 and 0.32 percentage points to 38.24% and 62.45%, respectively, while that of
workers with a college degree or above rose by 0.22 percentage points to 66.22%.
In terms of major sectors, thanks to rising external demand, the industrial sector gained faster
wage growth, while the services sector performed worse owing to the domestic COVID-19 flare-
up, leading to an uneven recovery between these two sectors. The average monthly earnings
of the industrial and services sectors increased by 5.82% and 0.95% to NT$56,227 and NT$55,413,
respectively, while increasing by 3.78% and decreasing by 1.00%, respectively, in real terms.
In terms of industrial classification, the finance and insurance sector had the highest average
monthly earnings with NT$98,897, the electricity and gas supply sector came in second with
27
I. Developments in the Real Economy
NT$93,628. On the other hand, the education sector 7 and the accommodation and food service
activities earned average monthly wages of NT$31,386 and NT$35,057, respectively, the lowest two
among all sectors owing to impacts of the pandemic and a large number of part-time employees
in these sectors. In terms of growth rates, the manufacturing sector's average monthly earnings
witnessed the highest increase of 6.26%, followed by the real estate sector at 6.04%.
Since the increase in total earnings was lower than that in production, unit labor costs of the
industrial and the manufacturing sectors decreased by 5.73% and 6.26% year on year, respectively.
Of all the manufacturing sectors, the leather, fur and related products manufacturing sector
experienced the largest decrease in unit labor cost with 20.23%, followed by machinery equipment
manufacturing with a decrease of 16.17%.
7 Excluding schools at all levels within the formal education system (except preschools).
28
CBC Annual Report 2021
Financial Developments
29
II. Financial Developments
1. Overview
In 2021, the domestic economy continued to rebound in the first half of the year and corporate
demand for funds was strong, leading to faster growth in loans and investments of banks. As a result,
for the year as a whole, the annual growth rate of the monetary aggregate M2 rose.
The Bank's policy rates remained unchanged and deposit rates and the base lending rate
offered by banks stayed steady, while the weighted average interest rate on deposits and the
rate on loans slightly moved downward. Owing to ample market liquidity, the interbank overnight
call loan rate remained stable; bills market rates and the average 10-year government bond yield
declined over the previous year, albeit with a mid-year rebound.
In regard to the exchange rate, as the Fed maintained an easy monetary policy stance in the
first half of the year and Taiwan's exports showed robust growth, the NT dollar largely held strong
against the US dollar. At the end of 2021, the NT dollar appreciated against the US dollar compared
with a year earlier; on a daily average basis, the NT dollar also appreciated against the US dollar in
2021 compared with the previous year.
In the stock market, the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Stock Index, the TAIEX,
swung up to a historical high before the end of the year. The daily average transaction value also hit
a record high in 2021.
The annual growth rate of bank loans and investments increased from 6.79% at the end of
2020 to 8.39% at the end of 2021. The increase was due to enterprises' stronger demand for funds
as economic growth continued to pick up throughout the year. With faster growth in bank loans
and investments boosting demand for money, the monetary aggregate M2 (measured on a daily
average basis) recorded an annual growth rate of 8.72% in 2021. This was higher than the 5.84%
registered in 2020 while also exceeded the Bank's 2.5% to 6.5% reference range for the year.
The Bank's policy rates remained unchanged and, as a result, the posted interest rates on
deposits of banks stayed steady. At the end of 2021, the average fixed rate on one-year time
deposits of the five major domestic banks was 0.77%, the same as a year earlier, and their average
base lending rate was 2.442%, also the same as the year before. Meanwhile, the weighted average
30
CBC Annual Report 2021
rate on their newly-extended loans was 1.200% in 2021, declining by 0.073 percentage points over
the previous year.
For domestic banks as a whole, the weighted average interest rate on deposits was 0.36%,
declining by 0.09 percentage points over the previous year. The reasons for the decline included
some funds shifted from higher-rate time deposits to lower-rate demand deposits, lower interest
rates were applied to maturing time deposits at renewal, and some banks reduced their posted
deposit rates. Meanwhile, the weighted average interest rate on loans was 1.60%, declining by 0.08
percentage points owing to an increase in low-interest loans to local governments and interest rate
cuts on loans by some banks to boost lending business.
As the Bank continued to conduct open market operations to maintain market liquidity at
an appropriate, easy level in 2021, the weighted average overnight call loan rate was steady
between 0.079% and 0.082% during the first eight months of the year. It slightly increased to 0.086% in
September owing to greater demand for funds during the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays as well as an
end-of-quarter effect, and stayed between 0.082% and 0.083% for the rest of the year. With regard
to the bills market, money market rates first declined and then went up during the year, while their
yearly average rates were all lower than those of the previous year amid ample market liquidity. The
average 1-30 day commercial paper rate in the secondary market was 0.22% in 2021, declining by
0.12 percentage points over the previous year.
10-Year Government Bond Yield Came Lower than Last Year, Albeit with a Broad Uptrend
In 2021, higher inflation led the yields on US government bonds to increase, while the yields
on Taiwanese government bonds did not rise as sharply thanks to ample market liquidity. The
turnover-weighted average of the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond declined
by five basis points over the previous year as transaction in the secondary government bond
market showed a downtrend in the recent years. However, government bond yields broadly went
up during the year. In terms of issuance, as the Central Government Debt Service Fund renewed
maturing government bonds and increased issuance to meet budget needs, the total amount of
government bonds increased by NT$82.0 billion over the previous year.
In 2021, the NT dollar exchange rate against the US dollar broadly appreciated. At the
beginning of the year, the NT dollar appreciated against the US dollar on the back of the Fed's
continuous easing and Taiwan's robust export growth. In March, the NT dollar weakened against
the US dollar following US President Biden's signing of the US$1.9 trillion relief package and market
31
II. Financial Developments
optimism of a US economic recovery. In April, the NT dollar appreciated against the US dollar
because the Fed reiterated its easy monetary policy stance and continued to dismiss inflation risks
as transitory. In the second half of the year, persistently higher inflation led most Fed officials to
predict an earlier rate hike, and the Fed decided in late September to begin tapering by the end
of the year, bolstering the US dollar and thus weakening the NT dollar. From late October onwards,
the NT dollar appreciated against the US dollar owing to continuous net selling of the US dollar by
local exporters. At the end of 2021, the NT dollar appreciated by 2.95% year on year against the US
dollar. On a daily average basis, the NT dollar appreciated against the US dollar by 5.55% in 2021.
In 2021, the TAIEX generally swung upwards. During the months of May, July to August, and
September to October, the TAIEX declined significantly owing to domestic COVID-19 outbreaks,
deferred policy decision related to the day trading tax cut, the Evergrande default crisis and tighter
energy controls in China, and inflation and debt ceiling concerns in the US. For the other months,
however, it was supported by factors including domestic infections coming under control, US stock
indices renewing record highs, and Taiwan's listed companies reporting good earnings and exports
showing strength. Therefore, the TAIEX went on an uptrend from the yearly low at the beginning of
the year to an all-time high of 18,248 points on December 29. The TAIEX stood at 18,219 points at the
end of the year, increasing by 23.7% compared with a year earlier. The daily average transaction
value reached a record amount of NT$378.2 billion with a significant increase of 103.0% over the
previous year.
32
CBC Annual Report 2021
2. Banking Sector
At the end of 2021, the number of monetary financial institutions (defined hereafter in this
chapter as excluding the central bank) increased to 404. The number of domestic banks increased
by one with the opening of LINE Bank. The number of foreign and Mainland Chinese banks increased
by one as PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. set up its branch in Taiwan. As for money market
mutual funds, the number remained zero after the last remaining fund was liquidated in May 2017.
The numbers of the other types of monetary financial institutions all stood unchanged.
In addition to monetary financial institutions, the number of financial holding companies was 16,
the same as 2020.
At the end of 2021, domestic banks maintained a dominant role in the deposit market,
with the market share rising further to 80.55%. Such a phenomenon was primarily due to a more
sizeable increase in the deposits of domestic banks, resulting from continued credit growth and
ample market liquidity, as well as inward remittances of firms' overseas sales revenues. By contrast,
the deposit market shares shrank for most of the other types of monetary institutions, with the
departments of savings and remittances of Chunghwa Post taking up a share of 12.56%, the credit
departments of farmers' and fishermen's associations 4.08%, credit cooperatives 1.52%, and branches
of foreign and Mainland Chinese banks 1.29%.
33
II. Financial Developments
In terms of loans, the market share Market Shares of Deposits and Loans
by Category of Monetary Financial Institutions
of domestic banks rose to 90.53%,
End of 2021 End of 2020
owing to stronger funding needs Deposits* Loans**
Unit : % Unit : %
of enterprises fueled by the global
12.56 Chunghwa Post 0.02
economic recovery and Taiwan's robust 13.07 0.02
Credit Departments of
exports, along with sustained growth 4.08 Farmers’ & Fishermen’s 3.80
4.12 3.92
Associations
in the housing market. Further more,
1.52 Credit Cooperatives 1.66
1.52 1.70
public enterprises increased borrowing
1.29 Foreign and Mainland 3.99
from domestic banks to facilitate their 1.92 Chinese Banks 4.15
and Mainland Chinese banks' market Notes: * Excluding the values of the host contracts of structured products issued
by banks.
share declined to 3.99%. For the other ** Including data for securities acquired under reverse repurchase
agreements.
institution types, Chunghwa Post's Source: Financial Statistics Monthly (February 2022), CBC.
At the end of 2021, the total amount of funds in monetary financial institutions was
NT$60,130 billion, increasing by NT$3,748 billion compared to the end of 2020. The combined
share of transaction and nontransaction deposits was around 85%. Against a backdrop of
abundant market liquidity, the balances of transaction deposits and nontransaction deposits
kept growing, posting annual growth rates of 11.92% and 4.30%, respectively.
In the case of fund uses, bank loans still accounted for over 50% of total uses of funds at the
end of 2021.Owing to strong export growth bolstered by a global economic upturn as well as
an increasing funding need among public and private enterprises, the year-end loan balance
of monetary financial institutions expanded by 7.99%, or NT$ 2,479 billion, over the previous year
end, picking up to a rate faster than the 7.18% of 2020. As for net foreign assets, owing to active
deposit absorption by their overseas branches, the foreign liabilities of monetary financial institutions
increased, causing the annual growth rate of net foreign assets to fall sharply from 23.87% at the end
of the previous year to 0.96%.
34
CBC Annual Report 2021
Deposits
Because of the continued growth in domestic credit, an abundance of market capital, and the
inward remittances of overseas sales revenues by some companies, as of year-end 2021, the deposit
balance of monetary financial institutions was NT$52.5 trillion, an increase of NT$3.5 trillion compared
with the previous year end. However, because of a year-on-year increase in net resident capital
outflow and a higher base effect, the annual growth rate of deposits decreased from 9.22% at year-
end 2020 to 7.19% at year-end 2021.
In terms of transaction deposits, its annual growth rate decreased from 17.67% at year-end 2020
to 11.92% at year-end 2021 because of a slowdown in the growth of passbook savings deposits.
The aforementioned slowdown was partly due to a higher comparison base in 2020 as many
people opted to keep money in more-liquid forms of accounts such as passbook savings deposits
in view of the pandemic's impact. Moreover, in 2021, there was a decrease in the balance of
securities giro accounts as Taiwan's stock market was dampened by a domestic COVID-19 flare-up,
the Evergrande default crisis and China's energy control tightening, and market fears of elevated
35
II. Financial Developments
20
Although the annual growth rate
decreased, transaction deposits as a share of 15
The annual growth rate of foreign currency deposits showed a significant decrease in the first
half of the year owing to an increase in overseas investment by residents and pension funds, as
well as the paying off of foreign loans by some companies. By contrast, the annual growth rate
increased slightly in the second half of 2021 owing to an increase in inward remittances of overseas
sales revenues. At the end of 2021, the annual growth rate of foreign currency deposits decreased
from 14.23% the year before to 7.46%, whereas foreign currency deposits as a share of total deposits
grew from 14.07% a year ago to 14.11%.
In 2021, the annual growth rate of time deposits (including negotiable certificates of deposit)
increased and then decreased. In the beginning of the year, the amount of pension funds saved
as time deposits increased; during mid-2021, many companies delayed cash dividend payments as
shareholders' meetings were postponed amid the domestic COVID-19 flare-up and saved the money
temporarily as time deposits. As a result, the annual growth rate of time deposits reached a peak
of 11.47% in August. Later, as companies began to pay their cash dividends and a financial holding
company used the funds in its time deposits to purchase the shares of a life insurance company, the
annual growth rate of time deposits slightly decreased. At the end of 2021, time deposits grew faster
year-on-year from the previous year's 5.62% to 6.42%, whereas its share in total deposits shrank from
11.34% at year-end 2020 to 11.26% at year-end 2021.
The annual growth rate of time savings deposits continued to decrease in 2021 but at a slower
pace. The decrease slowed primarily because of an expansion in 2021 from pension funds moving a
part of their money into time savings deposits based on fund scheduling strategies, as well as a lower
36
CBC Annual Report 2021
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comparison base in 2020 when many savers chose to park their money in highly-liquid passbook
savings deposits amid the pandemic as a precaution. Consequently, the annual growth rate of time
savings deposits rose from -2.31% the previous year to -0.45%. Regarding postal savings, their annual
growth rate increased from 2.00% at year-end 2020 to 2.85% at year-end 2021. At the end of 2021,
time savings and postal savings as a share of total deposits decreased from the previous year's
18.03% to 16.74%, and from 12.83% to 12.31%, respectively.
With regard to government deposits, several factors contributed to a broad upswing. Because of
an increased public need for relief packages during a domestic pandemic flare-up, the total amount of
government bonds issued was higher than that of the previous year. Furthermore, revenue from profit-seeking
enterprise income tax and from securities transaction tax both increased significantly, as the provisional
tax payment exempted in 2020 as a pandemic relief measure was included by companies in their 2021
payment and transactions in the stock market surged on the back of robust earnings of listed companies.
As a result, the annual growth rate of government
deposits broadly trended upwards, reaching 13.22% Annual Growth Rates of Loans
and Investments
at the end of the year from the 6.18% one year
% Total Loans and Investments Loans Investments
before. Government deposits as a share of total 15
10
Bank Loans and Investments
37
II. Financial Developments
2021 from 7.00% at the end of the previous year, while growth in portfolio investment accelerated to
10.66% at the end of 2021 from 5.81% a year earlier.
Loans by Sector
The annual growth rate of private sector loans extended by banks (defined in the following
paragraphs as including domestic banks and local branches of foreign and Mainland Chinese
banks) climbed to 8.27% at the end of 2021 from 7.70% a year earlier. The upturn was mainly due to
strong exports and sustained growth in housing loans. The annual growth rate of loans to government
enterprises recorded a surge of 27.00% at the end of 2021, a sharp upturn from the 22.38% decline at
the end of 2020, as Taiwan Power Company and CPC Corporation increased borrowing from banks
to finance energy transition. In contrast, the annual growth rate of loans to government agencies
slid from 9.94% to 1.92% at the end of 2021, as the government collected more tax revenues and
issued more bonds, leading to a reduction in borrowing from banks.
In terms of loan composition, loans extended to the private sector and to government
enterprises accounted for 93.90% and 1.68% of total loans at the end of 2021, respectively, higher
than the 93.87% and 1.43% recorded at the end of 2020. Loans extended to government agencies
accounted for 4.43% at the end of 2021, lower than 4.70% at the end of the previous year.
Loans by Industry
Broken down by industry sector, bank loans to the manufacturing sector continued to account
for the largest portion, at 39.14% at the end of 2021 compared to 40.24% at the end of 2020, with
its annual growth rate up from 1.18% to 5.52%. This was mainly attributable to an increase in loans
extended to computers, electronic and optical products manufacturing spurred by rapid growth of
exports in 2021. Meanwhile, the share of loans extended to the construction industry continued to
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38
CBC Annual Report 2021
rise, with its annual growth rate up from 13.23% to 13.78% at the end of 2021, reflecting solid demand
for public infrastructure projects, and construction for residential property and new plants.
The share of loans extended to the real estate industry expanded; however, its annual growth
rate contracted as a result of soft demand and a higher base effect. In contrast, both the share and
the annual growth rate of loans extended to the wholesale and retail industry continued to rise on
account of stabilizing consumer demand and robust exports. Meanwhile, the share and the annual
growth rate of loans to the finance and insurance industry increased, as a buoyant stock market
and rising margin debt drove up demand for bank loans to boost working capital.
Consumer loans
The annual growth rate of consumer loans extended by banks increased from 8.96% at the end
of 2020 to 9.00% at the end of 2021. Among them, house-purchasing loans grew by NT$760.7 billion,
or 9.46%, in 2021 mainly because major economies maintained an accommodative monetary policy
stance owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and funds repatriation by overseas Taiwanese firms. As
for the shares of various types of consumer loans, house-purchasing loans remained the largest
component, with its share increasing from 84.13% at the end of 2020 to 84.48% at the end of 2021.
Car loans accounted for 1.74%, decreasing from 1.78%, mainly because of the chip and car parts
shortage caused by the pandemic. Meanwhile, house-repairing loans, revolving credit for credit
cards, employee welfare loans, and other consumer loans accounted for 0.52%, 0.96%, 0.51%, and
11.78%, respectively.
Portfolio Investment
In terms of tool types, banks and the Department of Savings and Remittances of Chunghwa
Post invested more in corporate securities in 2021 as they adjusted their asset allocations, seeking to
increase returns on investment amid persistently low interest rates. Government bonds accounted
for a share of 51.63%, lower than the 54.96% registered a year ago. At the end of 2021, commercial
paper accounted for a share of 20.43%, higher than a year ago. Corporate bonds accounted for a
share of 18.76%, increasing from the end of 2020.
39
II. Financial Developments
As the Bank kept policy rates unchanged in 2021, domestic bank interest rates remained steady.
Regarding the interest rates of the five major domestic banks, their average fixed rates on one-
month and one-year time deposits, respectively, remained at 0.35% and 0.77% at the end of 2021.
In addition, the Bank announced in the December 2021 Board Meeting that if domestic price
inflation remains high, the industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have recovered steadily,
and interest rates in major economies are rising, the Bank will adjust its monetary policy as necessary
to meet its statutory obligations.
The weighted average rates on deposits and loans of domestic banks generally showed a
slightly downward trend in 2021. In the third quarter of 2021, the deposit rate declined to 0.35%
from 0.40% in the fourth quarter of the previous year, mainly owing to the increase in the share
of transaction deposits in total deposits and the reduction in the posted interest rate on deposits
by some banks. In the fourth quarter, the rate rose to 0.36% as some banks offered higher rates to
attract savers and some raised the rates for retiree-oriented deposit programs. On the whole, the
weighted average interest rate on total deposits of domestic banks was 0.36% in 2021, which was 0.09
percentage points lower than that recorded in the previous year.
As banks' rates on current operations loans declined in 2021, the weighted average interest rate
on new loans of the five major domestic banks decreased from 1.273% in the previous year to 1.200%
in 2021, down by 0.073 percentage points. Excluding central government loans, the weighted average
interest rate on new loans decreased from 1.302% in the previous year to 1.258% in 2021, down by 0.044
percentage points. Meanwhile, the average base lending rate remained at 2.442% at the end of 2021.
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40
CBC Annual Report 2021
Because the decrease in the average deposit rate was more than that in the average lending
rate, the average interest rate spread between deposits and loans widened to 1.24 percentage
points in 2021, which was 0.01 percentage points more than that recorded in the previous year.
41
II. Financial Developments
3. Money Market
For the year 2021, the total turnover in the interbank call loan market and short-term bills
market increased by 12.78% and 1.66%, respectively, over the previous year. With respect to money
market rates, as the Bank kept policy rates on hold during the year, the interbank overnight call
loan rate fluctuated in a narrow range and bills market rates broadly displayed a downtrend
before moving up later in the year.
With the global economy gradually recovering in 2021, exports registered solid growth and
private investment showed robust expansion. Against this backdrop, bank loans and investments
continued expanding year on year, leading to stronger demand for interbank call loans. Total
annual turnover of interbank call loans stood at NT$31,684.2 billion, increasing by NT$3,591.1 billion
or 12.78% over the previous year.
In terms of borrowers, domestic banks still made the largest contribution to total transactions
with a share of 81.52%, followed by bills finance companies, foreign and Mainland Chinese banks,
and Chunghwa Post, with shares of 8.92%, 6.84%, and 2.71%, respectively.
The amount borrowed by domestic banks grew by NT$3,993.7 billion or 18.29% from the year
before. The increase was mainly because banks' demand for interbank borrowing grew as they
tried to meet liquidity management needs against a backdrop of uneven distribution of funds
despite ample liquidity in the banking system.
On the other hand, as corporations and banks had greater demand for bills, bill transactions
increased, thereby reducing bills finance companies' demand for funds. The amount borrowed by
bills finance companies recorded a year-on-year decrease of NT$738.8 billion or 20.72%.
Meanwhile, the amount borrowed by foreign and Mainland Chinese banks dropped by
NT$113.4 billion or 4.97% over the previous year owing to their softer funding needs. The amount
borrowed by Chunghwa Post rose substantially by NT$449.6 billion or 109.51% compared with the
previous year because of a lower base effect.
With respect to lenders, domestic banks remained the largest supplier of funds, contributing
to 67.19% of total transactions in 2021. Foreign and Mainland Chinese banks came in second with
a share of 31.44%, followed by Chunghwa Post and bills finance companies making up 1.25% and
0.13% of total transactions, respectively.
42
CBC Annual Report 2021
To channel excess available funds at hand resulting from surging deposits boosted by
continued growth in exports, domestic banks increased interbank lending by NT$2,680.5 billion or
14.41% over the previous year.
As foreign and Mainland Chinese banks often carry out the custodian business for foreign
investors, the resulting net foreign capital inflows created a sufficient source of funds. Therefore,
the amount of call loans made by this group went up by NT$1,648.4 billion or 19.83% over the
previous year.
In terms of maturity, interbank overnight call loans remained the most actively traded
instrument in the market with a predominant share of 51.82%, up by 11.42 percentage points from
that of the previous year. The second were those with a maturity of one week, sliding by 6.02
percentage points to 33.98% over the previous year, while the share of loans with a two-week
maturity also slipped by 2.91 percentage points to 10.22%.
For the year 2021, newly issued short-term bills stood at NT$17,254.0 billion. Commercial paper
made up a dominant 93.35% of the new issues, followed by negotiable certificates of deposit (NCDs)
with a share of 4.69%.
The growth in the volume of newly issued short-term bills was mainly attributable to increased
issuance of commercial paper with an amount of NT$1,282.8 billion because government
43
II. Financial Developments
enterprises and private enterprises issued commercial paper to raise funds amidst a persistently
low interest rate environment. The second largest contributor were banker's acceptances with a
However, issuance of NCDs contracted by NT$22.2 billion from the previous year. This was
because, when part of the NCDs reached maturity, some banks did not renew the issuance
of NCDs after assessing their own funding conditions or corporate holders did not renew their
purchases in order to free up funds for other purposes. Meanwhile, the amount of treasury bills
shrank by NT$16.6 billion from a year before, primarily on account of a decrease in issuance to
Overall, the amount of the total issuance of short-term bills was greater than that of the
total repayments for short-term bills. Therefore, the outstanding of short-term bills reached
NT$2,911.2 billion as of the end of 2021, representing an increase of NT$164.0 billion or 5.97%
2012 8,187.7 1,454.0 265.0 195.0 - - 7,311.6 1,023.6 24.2 4.3 586.9 231.1
2013 9,809.0 1,650.2 324.6 214.6 - - 8,827.4 1,199.2 23.5 4.2 633.5 232.3
2014 10,840.6 1,641.2 244.9 130.0 10.0 0.0 9,919.5 1,306.8 24.1 4.3 642.2 200.2
2015 11,512.8 1,677.7 233.7 90.0 - - 10,426.0 1,346.6 20.8 3.5 832.3 237.6
2016 12,778.5 1,873.5 217.3 90.0 - - 11,371.3 1,480.1 18.3 4.1 1,171.6 299.4
2017 14,878.5 2,154.5 220.0 25.0 - - 13,077.8 1,709.0 19.4 4.2 1,561.3 416.4
2018 14,971.9 2,223.1 160.0 30.0 - - 12,965.0 1,760.6 18.5 4.0 1,828.5 428.5
2019 14,927.3 2,353.2 314.0 65.0 - - 13,613.6 2,034.1 14.0 2.6 985.7 251.5
2020 16,005.2 2,747.2 336.6 125.0 - - 14,824.7 2,344.3 13.0 2.8 830.9 275.1
2021 17,254.0 2,911.2 320.0 115.0 - - 16,107.5 2,560.1 17.8 4.5 808.7 231.6
Source : Financial Statistics Monthly (February 2022), CBC.
The total tur nover of short-ter m bills in 2021 went up by NT$731.3 billion or 1.66% to
NT$44,872.2 billion. Of the total transactions, commercial paper still made up the lion's share of
95.81%, up by 0.6 percentage points from a year earlier. The second were NCDs with a share of
3.51%, 0.48 percentage points lower than the previous year. As for market participants, private
enterprises were still the largest player in the market with a dominant share of 47.59%, followed
by banks and bills finance companies with shares of 28.15% and 14.32%, respectively.
44
CBC Annual Report 2021
In 2021, the weighted average interbank overnight call loan rate remained at low levels,
reflecting ample market liquidity. For the first eight months, the rate slightly fluctuated between
0.079% and 0.082%. In September, the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays and the quarter-end effect led
to greater market demand for funds. The interbank overnight call loan rate modestly trended up
to 0.086%.
From October onwards, the Double Tenth Day holidays and enterprises' dividend payouts
pushed up funding needs, yet market liquidity remained sufficient, and foreign investors net
bought on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) for two consecutive months from November to
December, leading to net capital inflows. Therefore, the weighted average interbank overnight
In the year 2021, the size of money market funds experienced volatile changes. This was
because the TAIEX swung up, attracting more capital to flow into the TWSE. As a result, money
market funds, where institutional investors used to park short-term capital, recorded a smaller
size. At the end of 2021, there were a total of 36 money market funds in Taiwan and the total
assets stood at NT$851.4 billion with a decrease of NT$169.6 billion or 16.61% from the end of the
previous year.
In respect of portfolio composition, the largest use of funds was bank deposits with a share
of 51.35% at the end of the year. Following bank deposits were short-term bills and repurchase
agreements, accounting for 38.50% and 10.11% of the total money market funds, respectively.
45
II. Financial Developments
46
CBC Annual Report 2021
On a daily average basis in 2021, the NT dollar depreciated slightly against the renminbi (RMB)
but appreciated against the Japanese yen, the US dollar, the Korean won and the euro. The trade-
weighted nominal effective exchange rate index of the NT dollar increased by 2.95% on a daily
average basis. The exchange rate movements of the NT dollar vis-à-vis each of the above foreign
currencies are analyzed as follows.
During the course of the year, the NT dollar against the US dollar appreciated broadly.
Early in the year, Fed Chair man Powell's remarks of continued commitment to monetary
accommodation and Taiwan's strong export performance combined to drive the NT dollar higher
against the US dollar. As US President Biden signed the US$1.9 trillion relief package into law on
March 11 and rising market optimism regarding a US economic recovery gave a further boost to
the US dollar, the NT dollar depreciated against the US dollar. In April, as the Fed reiterated that it
would maintain an easy monetary policy stance with the policy rate near zero and continued to
downplay inflation risk, the US dollar thus weakened and the NT dollar appreciated. Entering the
second half of the year, rising inflation led most Fed officials to forecast an earlier rate hike, and
late in September, the Fed decided to start tapering bond purchases later in 2021; this propelled
the US dollar higher and the NT dollar weakened. However, from late October, the NT dollar
appreciated against the US dollar as Taiwanese companies net sold US dollars. At the end of 2021,
the NT dollar appreciated by 2.95% against the US dollar compared with the end of the previous
year. On a daily average basis, the NT dollar appreciated against the US dollar by 5.55% in 2021.
Relative to the euro, the NT dollar broadly appreciated during 2021. Early in the year, the
COVID-19 pandemic worsened in Europe, which led investors to worry that the pace of the
economic recovery would moderate. Therefore, the ECB announced a faster pace of asset
purchases under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme in March. In the second half of
the year, as economic growth in the euro area was hindered by the spread of new virus variants,
the ECB maintained an easy monetary policy stance by keeping its policy rates unchanged in
late October, and President Lagarde underscored that the possibility of a rate hike in 2022 was
very low. Because the pace of monetary policy normalization was slower than expectation among
investors, the euro continued on its downward trend, and the NT dollar appreciated continuously
against the euro. Compared with the end of the previous year, the NT dollar appreciated against
the euro by 11.86% at the end of 2021. On a daily average basis, the NT dollar appreciated against
the euro by 1.93%.
47
II. Financial Developments
During the course of 2021, the NT dollar appreciated against the yen. In the first half of the year,
Japan's government declared a state of emergency several times in response to rising COVID-19
cases, and the BoJ continued to maintain its accommodative monetary policy. From August on,
higher commodity prices led to Japan running a trade deficit. Against this backdrop, combined
with sluggish consumption, the BoJ pledged to continue an extremely accommodative monetary
policy in October, and projected an inflation rate at well below its 2% target for two more years.
Late in December, BoJ Governor Kuroda reiterated that it was too early to move toward normalizing
monetary policy and maintained that the recent yen depreciation had more positive effects on
Japan's economy, thereby leaving the yen under downward pressure, which drove the NT dollar
against the yen to a yearly high of 0.2406. In sum, the NT dollar appreciated by 14.94% against
the yen at the end of 2021 compared with the previous year end. On a daily average basis, the
NT dollar appreciated against the yen by 8.50%.
In 2021, the NT dollar appreciated against the RMB in the first three quarters and depreciated
toward the year end. In early January, in an effort to dampen RMB strength, the PBoC raised
the upper limit on domestic non-financial firms' overseas lending to encourage capital outflows
and lowered the upper limit for non-financial firms' cross-border financing amid efforts to rein in
capital inflows. On May 31, the PBoC announced it would raise the reserve requirement ratio on
foreign currency deposits by 2 percentage points to manage forex liquidity and ease appreciation
pressure on the RMB. Later, China's tightening of pandemic control measures amid a wave of locally
transmitted infections and the expanded regulatory crackdown on technology businesses and other
sectors combined to weaken the RMB, resulting in the appreciation of the NT dollar against the RMB.
Later, the RMB reversed previous losses as China's exports exceeded expectations in October and
rebounded further following positive news of the virtual summit between US and China's leaders;
therefore, the NT dollar against the RMB veered to depreciation. In December, the PBoC reduced
the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 0.5 percentage points and cut its lending benchmark
loan prime rate (LPR) as it moved to stimulate a slowing economy that has been weighed down
48
CBC Annual Report 2021
Trading in the Taipei foreign exchange market decreased in 2021. Total net trading volume
for the year was US$8,188.1 billion, representing a 1.0% year-on-year decrease. The daily average
turnover was US$33.0 billion in 2021.
In terms of trading partners, transactions between banks and non-bank customers accounted
for 33.8% of the total turnover, while interbank transactions made up 66.2%, including 21.1% for
transactions among local banks and 45.2% for those between local banks and overseas banks.
As far as traded currencies were concerned, NT dollar trading against foreign currencies
accounted for 48.8% of the total trading volume, of which trading against the US dollar made
up a dominant 47.1%. Transactions in third currencies contributed to 51.2% of the total trading
49
II. Financial Developments
Cross
Forex Margin
Year Spots Forwards Options Currency Total
Swaps Trading
Swaps
2020-2021
Annual Growth Rate 5.2 0.8 -6.6 -34.9 8.1 -15.5 -1.0
(%)
Source: Department of Foreign Exchange, CBC.
the majority of this increase, up by US$69.5 billion. Source: Department of Foreign Exchange, CBC.
50
CBC Annual Report 2021
Commodity-
Interest Rate-Related Products Related
Products
Stock
Credit
Year Index Total
Foreign Derivatives
Interest Interest Options
Currency Commodity
Rate Rate Subtotal
Interest Options
Swaps Options
Rate Futures
2020-2021
Annual Growth Rate 51.6 11.9 199.1 100.9 34.2 198.2 54.9 98.8
(%)
Note: "Forward Rate Agreements" is excluded from the table because the turnover has been 0 since 2017.
Source : Department of Foreign Exchange, CBC.
Renminbi Business
Renminbi investment tools became even more diversified during 2021. By the end of 2021, there
were 65 domestic banking units (DBUs) and 57 offshore banking units (OBUs) engaging in renminbi
business. The balance of renminbi deposits amounted to RMB231.9 billion; renminbi remittances totaled
RMB1,835.7 billion in 2021; renminbi settlement through the Taipei Branch of the Bank of China totaled
RMB5,291.0 billion.
Total value of 194 RMB-denominated bonds issued (as of the end of 2021) 132.7
51
II. Financial Developments
The transaction volume in the foreign currency call loan market in 2021 was US$1,892.7 billion,
a decrease of 5.0% over the previous year. Of this amount, US dollar transactions accounted for a
dominant share with US$1,774.7 billion, making up 93.8% of the total while decreasing by 7.2% from 2020.
Renminbi transactions reached RMB561.2 billion in 2021, making up a share of 4.6% of the total and
recording a year-on-year rise of 27.3% in volume. Japanese yen transactions reached ¥1,902.6 billion in
2021, representing a small share of 0.9% of the total with a year-on-year increase of 398.6% in volume.
The amount of euro transactions amounted to around €1.7 billion, with a modest share of 0.1%. Other
currencies accounted for a combined 0.6% of the total transaction volume. The balance of foreign
currency call loan transactions at the end of 2021 was US$60.1 billion.
The volume of foreign currency-NTD swap transactions reached US$1,142.7 billion, 13.1% less than
2020, while the balance was US$301.4 billion at the end of 2021.
1,400
1,892.7
2,000 1,142.7
1,200
1,500 1,000
800
1,000 600
400
500
200
0 0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Source: Department of Foreign Exchange, CBC. Source: Department of Foreign Exchange, CBC.
OBU Assets
There were 59 OBUs at the end of 2021, with 36 of them operated by domestic banks and the
other 23 by foreign banks. The total assets of all OBUs increased to US$249.9 billion at the end of
the year, representing an increase of US$10.5 billion, or 4.4%, from the previous year end owing to
increasing portfolio investments and growing claims on financial institutions. Domestic bank OBUs
made up 90.8% of these combined assets with an amount of US$227.0 billion, and the OBUs of
foreign banks accounted for 9.2% of the total with US$22.9 billion.
In terms of the uses of funds, portfolio investments, at US$93.7 billion, represented the majority
share of 37.5% of total OBU assets. Loans to non-financial institutions came in second place,
52
CBC Annual Report 2021
accounting for 31.4% of total OBU assets. In terms of the destinations for funds, Asia accounted for
the majority with a share of 53.3%, followed by America at 30.4%.
The OBUs' main source of funds came from due to financial institutions, making up 50.0% of total
liabilities and equity. Deposits of non-financial institutions accounted for 41.8% of the total. The main
funding origin of OBUs was Asia, accounting for 64.8%, followed by America with a share of 25.2%.
Forex trading turnover of all OBUs increased by 7.8% to US$721.0 billion, of which US$441.3 billion
went for spot transactions, US$130.5 billion for forward transactions, and US$149.2 billion for forex
swap transactions. Compared with the previous year, the growth rates of trading of spots, forwards,
and forex swaps were 7.8%, 3.2%, and 2.8%, respectively.
For OBUs, total turnover of other derivatives products increased by 26.4% to US$310.8 billion
over the previous year. Of this amount, options transactions registered a turnover of US$142.7 billion,
making up 45.9% of the total.
53
II. Financial Developments
5. Stock Markets
The TAIEX experienced fluctuations around a broad uptrend in 2021. Major downswings were
recorded in May, July, August, September, and October, mainly affected by a domestic flare-up in
COVID-19 infections, a day-trading tax policy indecision, China's property giant default crisis and
government "dual control" energy policy, and US inflation and debt ceiling concerns. In the other
months of the year, the TAIEX was bolstered by successful containment of domestic COVID-19
cases, record-breaking US stock bull runs, strong earnings of TWSE-listed companies, and robust
export growth, and swung up from a low at the start of the year to an all-year and all-time high of
18,248 points on December 29. The TAIEX closed the year at 18,219 points, rising by 23.7% over the
end of the previous year.
Most of the categories saw share price rises. Shipping and Transportation stocks posted the
largest gains of 168.6%, led by three major shipping companies whose profits doubled as global
freight indices and shipping prices stayed high. The second best performer was the Iron and Steel
category with a rise of 46.9% buoyed by international steel price upswings. Trading and Consumers'
Goods shares came in third with a 45.5% increase as consumers increased spending amid a boost
from the government's stimulus voucher scheme and a boom in online shopping. Overall, the
54
CBC Annual Report 2021
daily average trading value on the TWSE reached a historical high of NT$378.2 billion in 2021 while
surging sharply by 103.0% over the previous year.
At the end of 2021, the number of TWSE listings increased by 11 over the previous year to a
total of 959. The par value of total shares rose by 2.0% year on year to NT$7.4 trillion, and total
market capitalization soared by 25.3% to NT$56.3 trillion. Meanwhile, the total number of Taiwan
depositary receipts (TDRs) decreased to 11 with two delisting during the year.
In early 2021, the TAIEX swung upwards as the US stock indices climbed to repeated record
highs, vaccination rates increased, TWSE-listed companies posted impressive earnings, and Taiwan's
exports expanded strongly, which helped to send the TAIEX to 17,596 points on April 27. However, a
surge in domestic COVID-19 infections and net stock selling by foreign investors caused the index
to dive to 15,354 points on May 17. Given the support from strong growth in exports and corporate
profits, the TAIEX quickly rebounded alongside
a US market rally, hitting an intermediate peak
TWSE and TPEx Indices
at 18,034 on July 15.
1966=100 TWSE (LHS) TPEx (RHS) 1995=100
18,500 250
Thereafter, the TAIEX faced downward
16,500 220
pressures created by surging COVID-19 Delta
variant cases, China's Evergrande default crisis 14,500 190
55
II. Financial Developments
80 77.2
60 56.5
53.1
46.9 45.5
39.1 36.5
40 33.2
23.7 29.7 28.0 29.2 29.3
22.8 25.7
21.6 19.3
20 15.3 17.9
13.9 12.4
9.4 8.7 7.8 10.7
7.4 6.5 6.4
1.4 3.0 0.6 1.9 2.5 3.4
0
-1.5 -1.1 -2.1 -2.1 -2.2 -3.6 -4.9 -1.0
-5.4
-20
TAIEX Shipping Iron Trading Glass Finance Electrical Others Chemicals Electronics Paper Textile Plastics Food Cement Building Electric Rubber Tourism Biotech Oil, Automobile
& & and & & & & Material Machinery & Gas
Transportation Steel Consumers’ Ceramics Insurance Cable Pulp & Medical and
Goods Construction Care Electricity
Source: TWSE.
trough of 16,348 points on October 13. However, bullish forces set in as the domestic coronavirus
situation remained well under control, US technology stocks hit fresh record highs, Taiwan's
statistical body upgraded the domestic GDP growth forecast, and foreign investors returned to
the TWSE market with net buying, pushing the TAIEX towards an all-time high of 18,248 points on
December 29. The index closed the year (on Dec. 30) at 18,219 points, up by 23.7% compared to
14,733 points at the end of 2020.
Broken down by subcategory, most industrial groups rose from the previous year, except for
four categories, namely Automobile, Oil, Gas & Electricity, Biotechnology & Medical Care, and
Tourism. Among the gaining groups, Shipping and Transportation increased the most by 168.6%,
as the unresolved problems of port congestion and container shortage continued to buoy
international freight indices and shipping prices, thereby helping the TWSE's top three shipping
heavyweights to record significant growth in profits and witness share price surges. Iron and
Steel stocks had the second biggest increase by 46.9%, buttressed by an international steel price
upswing. Trading and Consumers' Goods rose by 45.5% as the stimulus voucher scheme and online
shopping boom spurred domestic consumption. Glass and Ceramic shares posted an increase of
39.1% with glass prices climbing. Finance and Insurance shares were 33.2% higher than the previous
year, benefiting first from domestic banks making handsome profits as the government's SME
guarantee fund helped sustained a sound lending business operation amid the pandemic, and
also from a net buying by foreign investors.
Among the declining categories, Automobile shares dropped the most by 4.9% because car
chip shortages caused new car delays and sales slumps. Oil, Gas and Electricity shares fell by
56
CBC Annual Report 2021
3.6%, mainly dented by the plunge in Formosa Petrochemical Corporation, one of the category's
heavyweight stocks, after foreign investor selloffs. Biotechnology and Medical Care was down
by 2.2%, attributable to the weak performance in the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. In addition,
Tourism stocks dropped for a second consecutive year by 2.1% as the pandemic continued to
numbers of wholesale and retail investors and new portfolio accounts opened), the TWSE daily
average trading value amounted to a historical high of NT$378.2 billion, increasing by 103.0%
from the previous year's NT$186.3 billion. The turnover rate also rose from 123.3% to a new record
high of 176.6%.
In 2021, foreign investors net sold TWSE stocks by an amount of NT$454.1 billion. Meanwhile,
local securities investment trust companies posted a net purchase of NT$70.1 billion, whereas local
In the first three months into 2021, international stock markets dipped and US government
bond yields trended up, leading foreign investors to post monthly net sales of TWSE shares, followed
by a net purchase in April on the back of huge capital inflows as US bond yields fell lower. In the
months from May to July, foreign investors turned net sellers again owing to a domestic COVID-19
flare-up and profit-taking trades. They net bought financial stocks in August and September, citing
robust earnings reports by banks. In October, investor fears of an earlier-than-expected rate hike
by the Fed to counter rising inflation pulled foreign capital out of the TWSE. Thereafter, a US tech
rally towards new highs prompted foreign investors to also increase holdings of Taiwan's electronics
Local securities investment trust companies were net sellers in April, June, and July through
November, during which they offloaded shares to secure gains in order to meet fund redemption
demand, to boost their financial statements, or to adjust portfolios at higher price levels. In the
Local securities dealers, with inclination for short swing trading, net bought in April and June
amid market uptrends. In the other months of the year, they net sold as a result of hedging or
profit-taking strategies.
57
II. Financial Developments
At the end of 2021, the number of TPEx listings rose by 6 from the previous year to 788. The
total par value increased by 2.5% to NT$760.9 billion. The TPEx market capitalization, buoyed by
rising stock valuations, increased to NT$5.78 trillion with a surge of 32.9%.
In 2021, the TPEx market exhibited trends similar to those in the TWSE market. Except for May and
August when the domestic virus flare-up and day-trading policy indecision pummeled the TPEX, the
index was broadly on an uptrend from a low at the start of the year to an all-year, all-time high of
237.6 points at the end of 2021, rising by 29.0% from 184.1 points a year ago.
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By category, all groups posted year-on-year gains, except for Tourism with a 3.6% drop as the
pandemic brought this group another price decline for the second consecutive year. Among the top
performers, Shipping and Transportation enjoyed a 66.7% gain thanks to elevated global freight rates
and the persistent strength of the three major TWSE-listed shipping heavyweights. Chemical shares
followed closely with a 66.0% increase as chemical products were bolstered by the international oil
price upswing.
By type of institutional investor, foreign investors and local securities investment trust companies
net bought TPEx securities worth NT$23.5 billion and NT$31.1 billion, respectively, while local dealers
58
CBC Annual Report 2021
With a record participation of 3.32 million active investor accounts in the year of 2021, the TPEx
daily average trading value reached NT$83.1 billion, a new record in market history while surging by
Key measures for Taiwan's stock markets in 2021 included the following:
(1) March 12: The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced that securities firms would be
allowed to provide sub-brokered business services that invest in foreign futures contracts linked to
Taiwan's stock index (e.g., SGX FTSE Taiwan Index Futures).
(2) May 4: The FSC announced that securities firms would be allowed to accept customer orders
to trade foreign securities under a systematic investment plan, investing in foreign stocks and in
exchange traded funds (ETFs) that do not have a leveraging or shorting effect.
(3) July 20: The TPEx launched the Pioneer Stock Board (PSB) in the Emerging Stock Market. The PSB,
whose trading mechanism is mostly identical to that in the TPEx main board market, is aimed at
fostering the development of and facilitating the funding for innovative industries.
(4) August 19: The Executive Yuan passed the amendment to the Securities Transaction Tax Act,
extending the tax cut on day-trading transactions to keep the current 1.5‰ tax rate in place through
December 31, 2024.
(5) August 27: The TWSE introduced an alert mechanism to draw investors' attention to stocks involved
with massive day trading activity. A security would be noted and announced as an "attention
security" if (a) in the most recent six business days, its day trading volume as a percentage of its total
trading volume exceeds 60%, and (b) in the current intraday trading session, its day trading volume
as a percentage of its total trading volume also exceeds 60%.
59
II. Financial Developments
6. Bond Market
For the year 2021, the total volume of bond issuance registered a marked decrease. New
issues of bonds amounted to NT$2,690.6 billion, decreasing by NT$704.2 billion or 20.74% over the
previous year. At the end of 2021, the total outstanding of bonds issued stood at NT$15,946.7 billion,
rising by NT$1,162.0 billion or 7.86% from the previous year end.
To support debt refinancing operations of the Central Government Debt Service Fund and to
raise funds for the central government general budget and special budget, issuance of central
government bonds reached NT$617.0 billion for 2021, an increase of 15.33% from the previous year.
Issuance of corporate bonds and bank debentures in the year fell by 14.11% and 29.58% to
NT$723.7 billion and NT$135.2 billion, respectively. The decreases were mainly because an upswing
in benchmark government bond yields amid robust domestic economic growth brought up
market rates, leading corporations and banks to reduce the volume of bond issuance.
In the secondary market, the yield on 10-year government bonds averaged 0.436% for the
entire year, five basis points lower than the previous year. Nevertheless, annual average yields on
bonds with different maturities displayed a broad uptrend in 2021, in contrast to the downtrend in
the previous year.
Among the total volume of government bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance, 10-year bonds
made up the lion's share with NT$210.0 billion, followed by 5-year bonds with NT$120.0 billion. 2-year,
60
CBC Annual Report 2021
7-year, 20-year, and 30-year government bonds recorded issuance of NT$60.0 billion, NT$32.0 billion,
NT$130.0 billion, and NT$65.0 billion, respectively.
Broken down by institutional investor, bonds held by the banking industry (including Chunghwa
Post) accounted for the largest share at 64.62% primarily on account of an increase in demand for
government bonds by Chunghwa Post. The
securities industry came in second with a share
of 22.01%, similar to that in the previous year. Shares of Government Bond Holdings
(by Institutional Investor)
Meanwhile, the insurance industry made up a
End of 2021 End of 2020
share of 10.74%, smaller than the previous year Insurance Insurance
Industry Industry
Bills Finance Banking Bills Finance Banking
because the insurance industry increased its Companies 10.74 % Industry Companies 25.65 % Industry
2.63 % 64.62 % 3.07 % 49.06 %
external investment position owing to a larger
yield spread between the US and Taiwan
government bonds.
Securities Securities
Industry Industry
As of the end of 2021, the total outstanding 22.01 % 22.21 %
of central government bond issuance stood Source: Department of the Treasury, CBC.
With respect to bonds issued by governments of special municipalities, new bonds issued
by the government of Taipei Special Municipality and the government of Kaohsiung Special
Municipality in 2021 reached NT$30.0 billion and NT$36.6 billion, respectively, with a combined
amount of NT$66.6 billion. At the end of the year, the outstanding amount of bonds issued by the
governments of all special municipalities stood at NT$164.9 billion, expanding considerably by
NT$64.9 billion or 64.89% from the previous year end.
In terms of bond maturities, 5-year corporate bonds accounted for a dominant share of the
issuance at 50.92%, while 7-year bonds came in second with a share of 26.40%. At the end of 2021,
the outstanding amount of corporate bonds grew by NT$390.7 billion or 15.07% to NT$2,983.5 billion
from the previous year end.
61
II. Financial Developments
2019 1,808.3 13,872.3 410.0 5,483.3 33.8 67.7 402.8 2,113.4 162.2 1,313.7 5.3 8.4 17.5 26.7 776.5 4,859.2
2020 3,394.9 14,784.7 535.0 5,524.5 40.5 100.0 842.5 2,592.8 192.0 1,255.7 0.0 5.3 21.5 44.6 1,763.3 5,261.8
2021 2,690.6 15,946.7 617.0 5,674.5 66.6 164.9 723.7 2,983.5 135.2 1,234.0 0.0 5.3 10.6 51.6 1,137.5 5,833.0
2021/ 1 362.0 15,086.7 70.0 5,594.5 10.0 110.0 36.0 2,609.1 3.0 1,243.3 0.0 5.3 0.6 45.0 242.4 5,479.5
2 219.0 15,125.7 65.0 5,599.5 0.0 110.0 1.2 2,606.5 9.3 1,247.6 0.0 5.3 0.0 44.8 143.5 5,512.1
3 138.4 14,999.5 25.0 5,514.5 0.0 110.0 29.6 2,622.0 3.0 1,221.1 0.0 5.3 0.0 44.4 80.9 5,482.2
4 265.6 15,160.1 30.0 5,544.5 22.9 132.9 63.3 2,655.0 7.8 1,209.6 0.0 5.3 0.0 44.3 141.6 5,568.5
5 244.8 15,287.0 60.0 5,574.5 0.0 132.9 91.8 2,723.7 22.4 1,219.5 0.0 5.3 0.5 44.8 70.2 5,586.4
6 249.4 15,338.0 55.0 5,569.5 0.0 132.9 98.4 2,767.6 3.0 1,206.9 0.0 5.3 0.0 44.4 93.1 5,611.5
7 216.6 15,465.4 30.0 5,599.5 0.0 132.9 45.2 2,767.0 2.5 1,206.9 0.0 5.3 0.3 44.6 138.5 5,709.2
8 237.9 15,651.0 97.0 5,696.5 0.0 132.9 99.0 2,839.2 14.1 1,215.3 0.0 5.3 0.0 44.1 27.8 5,717.7
9 224.0 15,699.8 65.0 5,654.5 0.0 132.9 101.4 2,915.2 10.5 1,207.8 0.0 5.3 0.0 43.9 47.2 5,740.2
10 215.4 15,829.5 30.0 5,654.5 20.0 151.2 51.3 2,944.9 14.6 1,215.6 0.0 5.3 2.1 45.7 97.4 5,812.3
11 119.0 15,815.8 30.0 5,614.5 13.7 164.9 27.2 2,942.3 18.3 1,229.2 0.0 5.3 1.1 46.6 28.6 5,813.0
12 198.4 15,946.7 60.0 5,674.5 0.0 164.9 79.4 2,983.5 26.8 1,234.0 0.0 5.3 6.0 51.6 26.3 5,833.0
Notes: * Referring to bonds issued by governments of special municipalities.
** Including those purchased back by originators for credit enhancement.
Sources:1. Financial Statistics Monthly (February 2022), CBC.
2. Banking Bureau, Financial Supervisory Commission.
3. Department of Foreign Exchange, CBC.
In 2021, domestic banks issued bank debentures in support of their funding needs, with an
issuance amount of NT$135.2 billion, down by NT$56.8 billion or 29.58% over the previous year. The
contraction was largely because market rates went up owing to rising benchmark bond yields,
leading to reduced senior bank debenture issuance by banks.
In respect of the maturity of new issues, perpetual debentures made up the largest share of
total issuance at 40.47%, while 7-year, 5-year, and 10-year debentures accounted for 20.81%, 19.70%,
and 16.47%, respectively. Debentures of the other maturity ranges made up a marginal share of 2.94%.
At the end of the year, the outstanding amount of bank debentures totaled NT$1,234.0 billion,
representing a year-on-year decrease of NT$21.7 billion or 1.73%.
New issues of asset securitization products were nil in 2021 and no principal was repaid for
existing asset securitization products. The outstanding amount of asset securitization remained at
NT$5.3 billion from the previous year end.
62
CBC Annual Report 2021
Foreign bonds are defined as NT dollar-denominated corporate bonds issued in Taiwan by foreign
enterprises. For the year 2021, foreign bond issuance dropped substantially by NT$10.9 billion or 50.77%
from a year before to NT$10.6 billion. The decrease mostly reflected a higher base effect resulting
from the NT$15.0 billion worth of green bonds issued in Taiwan by a Danish energy company, Ørsted,
in the previous year. At the end of the year, the outstanding amount of foreign bonds reached
NT$51.6 billion, increasing by NT$7.0 billion or 15.64% over the previous year end.
Taiwan by foreign institutions. During 2021, issuance of international bonds fell by NT$625.8 billion or
35.49% from a year before to NT$1,137.5 billion. The contraction was primarily because a rebound in
US Treasury yields led to a decrease in US dollar-denominated bond issuance. At the end of the year,
the outstanding amount of international bonds stood at NT$5,833.0 billion, representing a year-on-
Despite a surge in US inflation bringing up US Treasury yields, Taiwan government bond yields
recorded a smaller increase than US bond yields owing to ample domestic liquidity. Government
bond yields, in contrast to the downtrend in the previous year, displayed a broad uptrend in 2021,
whereas the trading volume of the secondary government bond market for the past two years
trended downward. Looking at the volume-weighted average yields, the 10-year government bond
yield modestly slid and averaged 0.436%, five basis points lower than the 0.483% of the previous year.
Among government bonds of the other maturity ranges, average yields on 5-year, 7-year,
15-year, and 20-year bonds in the year moved down by eight, six, two, and three basis points,
On the other hand, the average yield on 30-year bonds in 2021 went up by 31 basis points
compared to the previous year. This was because 30-year bonds were mainly issued in the primary
market. However, the issuance of 30-year bonds during the year only occurred in February and
December. An uptrend in market rates in the year brought the 30-year bond yield of December
markedly higher than that of February. In addition, the trading volume of December was also larger
than that of February. As a result, when looking at the volume-weighted average yields, the average
yield on 30-year bonds in 2021 was higher than the previous year.
63
II. Financial Developments
1.0
1.2
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.0 0.2
1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7 10 5 7 10 15 20 30
2019 2020 2021 Maturity (years)
By type of bonds, the majority of total bond transactions went for corporate bonds with a share
of 47.47% and an annual trading volume of NT$17,155.4 billion. The second most actively traded
were government bonds, contributing to 43.05% of total transactions with an annual trading volume
of NT$15,557.9 billion. Bank debentures came in third, accounting for a smaller share of 5.60% with an
annual trading volume of NT$2,024.9 billion.
64
CBC Annual Report 2021
65
III. Central Bank Operations
1. Overview
The global economy continued on the path of recovery in the year 2021 amid lingering
downside risks. Domestic inflation pressures built up further, whereas overall price trends were still
considered manageable. Meanwhile, Taiwan's economy witnessed robust growth, albeit with
divergence among different sectors. Against such a backdrop, the Bank held the policy rates
unchanged to help safeguard price and financial stability and foster economic growth.
To help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adversely impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic, the Bank launched the Special Accommodation Facility to Support Bank Credit to SMEs
("the Facility") in April 2020. In mid-2021, with a surge in coronavirus infections at home, in order to
enhance funding access for SMEs, the Bank continued its rolling review on the Facility and made
relevant adjustments such as raising the total amount available under the Facility. Later, with the
domestic coronavirus outbreak largely stable, corporate needs for relief funding declined. Therefore,
the deadline for banks to accept new SME loan applications under the Facility remained December
31, 2021, as scheduled. However, to continue helping alleviate corporate financial burdens by
supporting low funding costs, SME loans granted by banks under the Facility would remain eligible
for the Facility's preferential interest rates until June 30, 2022.
In addition, to promote financial stability, rein in financial institutions' credit risk associated with
real estate lending, and curb inordinate flows of credit resources towards the property market, the
Bank amended the Regulations Governing the Extension of Mortgage Loans by Financial Institutions
in March, September, and December 2021, to adjust its selective credit control measures. In order to
reinforce the effectiveness of these control measures, the Bank held meetings twice to urge banks to
comply with credit risk-based pricing principles when extending mortgage loans. Moreover, the Bank
also adopted relevant supporting measures.
In response to economic and financial conditions, the Bank continued to conduct open
market operations by issuing CDs to manage market liquidity and reserve money so as to
maintain liquidity in the banking system and market rates at appropriate levels and sustain
steady growth in monetary aggregates. For the year as a whole, reserve money and the
monetary aggregate M2 registered year-on-year growth of 12.18% and 8.72%, respectively.
Both readings were higher than the GDP growth rate of 6.45% over the same period, indicating
sufficient market liquidity to support economic activity.
In the foreign exchange (FX) market, bolstered by the US government's US$1.9 trillion fiscal
66
CBC Annual Report 2021
stimulus package and solid growth in Taiwan's exports in the first half of 2021, the NT dollar
appreciated against the US dollar and exhibited greater volatility. In the second half of the year, the
US Fed adopted monetary policy tightening and Taiwan's exports continued to record significant
expansion, resulting in the NT dollar against the US dollar fluctuating within a limited range. When
the NT dollar exchange rate experienced more fluctuations, the Bank, in line with its statutory
mandates, stepped into the FX market through two-way interventions as warranted to maintain
dynamic stability of the NT dollar exchange rate, with a net buying of US$9.1 billion for the year. In
2021, compared with other major currencies (including the Singapore dollar, the euro, the yen, and
the Korean won), the NT dollar experienced lower volatility in its exchange rate vis-à-vis the US dollar.
Moreover, in addition to approving more bank branches as authorized FX banks, the Bank reviewed
the laws and regulations governing FX business as seen fit so as to facilitate authorized FX banks'
competitiveness and service quality.
In order to ensure business continuity of the payment and settlement systems amid the COVID-19
pandemic, the Bank continued urging financial institutions to take precautionary measures in case
of pandemic-related contingencies. Furthermore, considering marked growth in interbank retail
payment transactions, the Bank raised the ceiling on the amount of financial institutions' end-
of-day balance in the Interbank Funds Transfer Guarantee Special Account8 to be counted as
part of the required reserves. The Bank also required the Financial Information Service Co., Ltd.
(FISC) to collaborate with financial institutions in reinforcing mobile payment infrastructure, such
as constructing an "inter-institutional electronic payment institutions platform" and launching the
"mobile number funds transfer" service to promote mobile payment. In the meantime, in response to
the evolving trend of the digital economy, the Bank has conducted research on central bank digital
currencies (CBDCs) and has moved on to the second phase with a proof-of-concept (PoC) study on
a general purpose CBDC, which will be completed in September 2022.
To assist the domestically-oriented services sector battered by the pandemic and boost private
consumption, the government rolled out the Quintuple Stimulus Voucher program, effective from
October 8, 2021. The Central Engraving and Printing Plant, a subsidiary of the Bank, was instructed by
the government to design and print the vouchers from August and later completed the production
of 19.5 million sets of paper vouchers in mid-October. Through this program, the Bank joined a
concerted effort in helping stimulate domestic consumption.
8 Authorized financial institutions may jointly open an Interbank Funds Transfer Guarantee Special Account with the Bank. The funds in the Special Account serve
as guarantee for clearing individual interbank retail payments.
67
III. Central Bank Operations
2. Monetary Management
The global economy continued to recover amid potential downside risks in the year 2021.
Meanwhile, domestic inflation pressures built up further, yet the overall price increase was still viewed
as manageable. Taiwan's economy exhibited robust growth, albeit with uneven recovery momentum
across sectors. Against this backdrop, the Bank kept policy rates unchanged in 2021. The discount
rate, the rate on refinancing of secured loans, and the rate on temporary accommodations
remained at 1.125%, 1.5%, and 3.375%, respectively.
In 2021, the Bank continued to manage market liquidity through open market operations by
issuing CDs in response to domestic economic and financial conditions, which helped to maintain
reserve money and market rates at appropriate levels.
The Bank continued to conduct open market operations by issuing CDs. At the end of 2021, the
total outstanding amount of CDs issued by the Bank was NT$9,483 billion. Reserve money grew by
12.18% for the year 2021, 3.59 percentage points higher than the previous year's figure. In terms of
the monthly movements of reserve money, the annual growth rates of reserve money for January
and February are often more volatile as the exact timing of the Lunar New Year holidays shifts on
the Gregorian calendar each year. In 2021, reserve money posted an annual growth rate of 11.38%
during this period. From March onwards, the annual growth rate remained relatively stable. Later,
despite displaying a downtrend from October
to December owing to a higher base effect,
5HVHUYH0RQH\
the annual growth rate of reserve money still
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remained above 10%. 17ELOOLRQ $PRXQW /+6 $QQXDO*UZRWK5DWH 5+6
the components, net currency increased by
NT$272 billion and the annual growth rate
rose to 11.99% from 9.17% the previous year;
reserves held by financial institutions expanded
by NT$282 billion, with the annual growth rate
68
CBC Annual Report 2021
The annual average overnight call loan rate 6RXUFH)LQDQFLDO6WDWLVWLFV0RQWKO\ )HEUXDU\ &%&
The Bank conducted small-scale test repo operations on CDs and government bonds in April
and October 2021, respectively, to improve operational readiness and ensure resilience of the open
market operations.
The government provided relief loans in response to the economic impacts of the pandemic
69
III. Central Bank Operations
in the previous year. Subsequently, marked domestic economic recovery and stronger corporate
demand for funds nudged up bank loans and investments. Moreover, as extended export strength
continued to buttress an increase in inward remittances of overseas sales revenues, M2 recorded
an annual growth rate of 8.45% in December 2020. With continuous growth in bank loans and
investments in 2021, the M2 growth rate sustained at a higher level, but broadly moderated from
June onwards. The M2 annual growth rate was 8.72% in 2021, higher than the upper boundary of the
reference range at 6.5%.
With regard to the monthly movements in 2021, for the first two months of the year, net foreign
capital inflows and faster growth in bank loans and investments, as well as stronger demand for
funds prior to the Lunar New Year holidays, brought the M2 growth rate up to 9.12% in February. It
slipped to 8.83% in April owing to net foreign capital outflows and slower growth in bank loans and
investments in March and April. Later, the M2 growth rate returned to an uptrend and hit a yearly
high of 9.23% in June, driven by stronger expansion in bank loans and investments.
70
CBC Annual Report 2021
recorded month-on-month increases from March onwards; however, on account of a higher base
effect, the annual growth rate of M1B exhibited a steady downtrend and fell to an all-year low of
12.75% in December.
Back in April 2020, to help SMEs adversely impacted by the pandemic, the Bank launched the
Special Accommodation Facility to Support Bank Credit to SMEs ("the Facility"). With the domestic
COVID-19 flare-up in mid-2021, the Bank continued to conduct a rolling review on the Facility and
made relevant adjustments in order to enhance funding access for SMEs. Adjustments included
stretching the applicable duration of preferential interest rates on newly-approved cases, raising the
total amount of the Facility, extending the deadline for SME applications, and allowing increased
borrowing within the specified maximum.
As the pandemic situation was broadly stable at home, the need for such funding assistance
waned. The deadline for banks to accept new SME loan applications under the Facility remained
December 31, 2021, as scheduled. However, to continue offering assistance by easing corporate
funding burdens, the Bank extended the applicable duration of preferential interest rates on
approved SME loans to June 30, 2022. Under the Facility launched in April 2020 to the end of 2021,
financial institutions had approved more than 309 thousand applications with the disbursement
totaling NT$504.9 billion.
In view of the still fast increase in banks' real estate lending, the Bank adjusted the selective
credit control measures three times in the year 2021 to curb inordinate flows of credit resources
towards the property market and to further rein in financial institutions' credit risk associated with real
estate lending. These measures represented the policy efforts to facilitate effective allocation and
reasonable utilization of credit resources as outlined in the government's Healthy Real Estate Market
Plan so as to prevent bank credit from flowing towards property and land hoarding.
1. In 2021, the Bank further amended the Regulations Governing the Extension of Mortgage Loans by
Financial Institutions in March, September, and December to reinforce the selective credit control
measures. Major revisions were as follows:
(1) March 2021: The Bank lowered the LTV ratio caps on housing loans extended to corporate entities
and on the third (or more) housing loans and high-value housing loans by natural persons. The Bank
also introduced a new LTV ratio ceiling on mortgage loans for idle land in industrial districts.
(2) September 2021: The Bank removed the grace period for a second home loan taken out by a
natural person for housing located in the stipulated specific areas.9 The Bank lowered the LTV ratio
caps on land loans and on mortgage loans for idle land in industrial districts.
9 Specific areas included Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Hsinchu County, and Hsinchu City.
71
III. Central Bank Operations
(3) December 2021: The Bank lowered the LTV ratio caps on high-value housing loans and on the third
(or more) housing loans by natural persons, on loans for unsold new housing units, and on mortgage
loans for idle land in industrial districts to 40%. The Bank also lowered the LTV ratio cap on land loans
to 50% and required that the construction should commence within the promised time frame as
formally undertaken by the loans' borrowers.
2. The Bank held meetings twice to improve the effectiveness of the selective credit control measures
and urged banks to implement credit risk-based interest rate pricing principles.
(1) The Bank held the meeting on "Strengthening the Effectiveness of the Implementation of the Bank's
Selective Credit Control Measures" in May with 36 domestic banks. Through the meeting, banks were
urged to comply with relevant laws and regulations as well as risk-based pricing principles when
extending mortgage loans and to avoid a price competition.
(2) The Bank held the meeting on "Strengthening the Effectiveness of the Implementation of the Bank's
Selective Credit Control Measures" again in October with 36 domestic banks and the National
Federation of Credit Co-operatives R.O.C. In this meeting, the Bank reiterated that banks should
comply with credit risk-based pricing principles and should fully explain the pricing strategies for
interest rates to borrowers so as to enable them to make proper financial planning decisions.
3. The Bank adopted the following supporting measures to improve the effectiveness of the
implementation of the selective credit control measures.
(1) Statistics of banks' newly-extended real estate loans were released regularly on the Bank's website.
(2) 55 on-site financial examinations were conducted in 2021 to ensure banks' compliance with relevant
laws and regulations.
(3) The Bank used moral suasion with banks, urging them to comply with relevant laws and regulations
and implement credit risk-based differential pricing principles.
(4) The Bank suggested the FSC to enhance control over financial institutions' real estate guarantee
business.
To sufficiently meet the funding needs of SMEs, the FSC continued to encourage lending by
domestic banks to SMEs, while the Bank also urged commercial banks to increase lending to SMEs.
At the end of 2021, the outstanding loans extended to SMEs by domestic banks amounted to
NT$8,689 billion, increasing by NT$876 billion from the end of the previous year and far exceeding the
annual target of increased lending of NT$300 billion set by the competent authorities. Outstanding
SME loans recorded an annual growth rate of 11.22% at the end of 2021, lower than the previous
year owing to a higher base effect. Furthermore, the ratio of SME loans to loans extended to all
private enterprises rose slightly from 69.08% at the previous year end to 70.83% at the end of 2021.
72
CBC Annual Report 2021
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Accepting redeposits from Chunghwa Post, the Agricultural Bank of Taiwan, and commercial
banks is another instrument for the Bank to influence banks' reserve positions in order to promote
financial stability. At the end of 2021, the outstanding redeposits of Chunghwa Post stayed broadly
unchanged at NT$1,624 billion, while the outstanding redeposits of the Agricultural Bank of Taiwan
and of commercial banks were NT$165 billion and NT$354 billion, respectively.
Pursuant to The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Act, the Bank is authorized by
law to adopt selective credit control measures in order to foster financial stability. Since the second
half of 2020, the domestic housing market had been gathering steam and a decline in mortgage
lending standards had also begun to show in some banks.
To promote financial stability and sound banking operations, to urge banks to carefully
consider mortgage loan purposes and borrower status as per the directive of "efficient allocation
and proper use of credit resources" under the government's Healthy Real Estate Market Plan,
and to curb bank credit resources from flooding the real estate market, the Bank implemented
selective credit controls on four occasions (December 2020, and March, September, and
December 2021) – by amending the Regulations Governing the Extension of Mortgage Loans by
Financial Institutions. The actions were aimed at strengthening bank management of credit risks
associated with real estate lending and preventing credit resources from being used for property
hoarding. They have since produced good results, with the LTV ratios significantly brought down for
the regulated loan types.
73
III. Central Bank Operations
1 Including Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Hsinchu County, and Hsinchu City.
74
CBC Annual Report 2021
High-value housing
loan in addition to two LTV cap: 55%; LTV cap: 40%;
(unchanged)
(or less) outstanding No grace period No grace period
housing loans
LTV cap: 60%;
No grace period
High-value housing loan
in addition to three LTV cap: 40%;
(unchanged) (unchanged)
(or more) outstanding No grace period
housing loans
Natural person
Second housing loan
for a home in one of (nil) (nil) No grace period (unchanged)
the "specific areas"
Loans for unsold housing units LTV cap: 50% (unchanged) (unchanged) LTV cap: 40%
Note: * On January 13, 2022, the Bank met with banks on the subject of "reinforcing management of risks associated with land loans," urging them to set up
internal rules to ensure that land loan borrowers begin construction on the collateralized land lots as per the loan terms. Particularly, regarding the
condition of "specific time frame," banks were asked to exercise prudence in assessing and verifying the actual time needed (up to a maximum
of 18 months) for borrowers before commencing construction. Banks should clearly state in the loan contracts that if borrowers fail to begin
construction within the agreed time frame, banks shall reclaim the loan amount disbursed in a gradual manner by a reasonable percentage and
raise the interest rates on the loans with annual increments.
Source: Department of Banking, CBC.
75
III. Central Bank Operations
not used for speculative hoarding of homes and land lots. The key adjustments included lowering
the LTV ratio caps on high-value housing loans and the third (or more) housing loans for natural
persons, on land loans, on loans for unsold housing units, and on idle industrial district land.
Meanwhile, lending standards for land loans were tightened by requiring borrowers to commit in
writing to commencing construction within a specific time frame.
2. Related actions
To amplify the effects of the selective credit control measures, the Bank followed up with
related actions as described below.
(1) Compiling and disclosing relevant data: Statistical data on those types of real estate
lending subject to the Bank's credit controls are published on the Bank's website on a
regular basis.
(2) On-site financial examinations: Beginning from January 2021, the Bank also ran targeted
examinations to ensure the banking sector's compliance with the selective credit controls.
Within the year of 2021, a total of 55 such examinations were conducted.
(3) Meeting with financial institutions: The Bank held two meetings with financial institutions
in May and October 2021 on the subject of "enhancing the effectiveness of the selective
credit control measures," urging banks to ensure compliance, to offer reasonable pricing
based on assessments of credit risk and other factors, and to refrain from price wars.
The Bank also reminded borrowers to heed their own mortgage interest burdens and be
financially prepared for any future changes.
(4) Strengthening bank risk management in property guarantee business: Acting on the
recommendation of the Bank, the FSC adopted several measures to prompt banks to
enhance risk management related to real estate guarantee business. These measures
included a cap on the ratio of the guarantee balance of bills finance companies for
real estate firms and a requirement that banks shall incorporate real estate guarantee
business into the scope of their internal control and audit rules in accordance with the
relevant regulations stipulated by the Bank.
Since the first rule tightening in December 2020, those types of loans under restriction have
been made by domestic banks in accordance with the relevant rules, and the average LTV ratios
have been significantly lower than before implementation.
76
CBC Annual Report 2021
LTV Ratios of Real Estate Loans Before and After Rule Tightening
(unit: %)
49.78
Idle industrial district land mortgage loans n.a. 50
(Oct. 2021)
Notes: 1. The "before" data are based on the information for the Jan.-Sept. 2020 period as reported by the 14 banks when they came to meet with the Bank
in November 2020, except for the "before" data on high-value housing loans taken out by natural persons, which were based on data reported by
banks before the Bank first imposed credit controls on this type of loan in June 2012.
2. The "after" data were compiled by the Bank based on the reports submitted by 39 domestic banks.
3. "n.a." means there was no statistical compilation.
Source: Department of Banking, CBC.
77
III. Central Bank Operations
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78
CBC Annual Report 2021
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III. Conclusion: The Bank will run a rolling review and act as needed to sustain financial stability
A healthy real estate market requires coordinated efforts from all relevant government
agencies to address issues from the various aspects of demand, supply, and the system. Looking
ahead, the Bank will stay attentive to the developments in banks' real estate lending and in the
housing market, conduct a rolling review of the selective credit control measures, and act as
needed to promote sound banking operations and foster financial stability.
79
III. Central Bank Operations
(1) Flexible foreign exchange rate management to maintain dynamic stability of the NT dollar
exchange rate
Taiwan is a small open economy with high dependence on foreign trade and susceptible to
potential impacts from sharp exchange rate fluctuations. Therefore, Taiwan adopts a managed float
exchange rate regime. Under this regime, the NT dollar exchange rate is in principle determined by
market forces. However, in the event of excessive exchange rate volatility, the Bank would conduct
appropriate smoothing operations to stave off adverse effects for economic and financial stability
In recent years, massive and frequent movement of international short-term capital has become
the driving force of exchange rate changes. So as to mitigate excessive exchange rate volatility
and to improve market efficiency, the Bank has adopted "leaning against the wind" operations
to prevent erratic flows from disrupting the foreign exchange market. A stable foreign exchange
In the first half of the year 2021, even though Taiwan was faced with a domestic flare-up of
COVID-19 infections, its own outstanding export performance and the US$1.9 trillion American
Rescue Plan drove the NT dollar to appreciate against the US dollar, and created wider fluctuations
of the NTD exchange rate. In the second half of the year, against the backdrop of the spread of
coronavirus variants all over the world, the Fed's monetary policy tightening to combat inflation,
an easing of Taiwan's pandemic outbreak, and continuous double-digit export growth, the NTD
exchange rate fluctuated in a relatively narrow range. To maintain dynamic stability of the NT dollar
exchange rate, the Bank continued to conduct two-way smoothing operations in the forex market.
For the year as a whole, net purchases by the Bank amounted to US$9.1 billion, and variability in
the NT dollar exchange vis-à-vis the US dollar was smaller than that of major currencies such as the
(2) Maintaining an orderly forex market and promoting sound market development
In 2021, the Bank carried on with a variety of policies to effectively manage the foreign
exchange market:
80
CBC Annual Report 2021
a. The Bank continued to implement the Real-Time Reporting System for Large-Amount Foreign Exchange
Transactions.
b. The Bank continued to strengthen management to ensure that forward transactions were based on
real transactions.
c. The Bank urged authorized banks to enhance their exchange rate risk management in order to
reduce market exposure of individual banks and to contain systemic risk.
d. The Bank continued to strengthen targeted examination on foreign exchange business to help ensure
a sound foreign exchange market.
(1) To provide the financial system with sufficient foreign currency liquidity to meet funding needs,
including those for corporations to venture into overseas markets, the Bank appropriated seed
capital for the Taipei Foreign Currency Call Loan Market, including US$20 billion, €1 billion and
¥80 billion.
(2) Through foreign currency call loans and swaps conducted by authorized foreign exchange banks,
the Bank continued to support corporations and insurance companies by meeting the needs for
foreign currency liquidity and exchange rate hedging.
Foreign Exchange Reserve Management and Foreign Currency Liquidity of the Bank
The Bank manages its foreign exchange reserves based on the considerations of liquidity, safety,
and profitability. The Bank keeps a close watch on the global economic and financial situation
and adjusts the portfolio of foreign exchange reserves accordingly. Currently, financial assets
denominated in US dollars make up a larger share in Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves than the
COFER (Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves) average published by the
IMF. As of the end of 2021, Taiwan's total foreign exchange reserves stood at US$548.4 billion with an
increase of US$18.5 billion or 3.5% compared to the end of 2020, mainly attributable to returns from
foreign exchange reserve investments and smoothing operations. Combining the reserves held in
gold valued at US$5.6 billion, the Bank's reserves assets totaled US$554.0 billion at the end of the year.
Foreign exchange reserves are the Bank's foreign currency claims on nonresidents. On the other
hand, foreign currency claims on residents consist of US dollars held under swap agreements and foreign
currency deposits and loans to domestic banks, which amounted to US$91.9 billion, US$43.4 billion, and
US$7.2 billion, respectively, at the end of 2021.
In terms of foreign currency liquidity, the total amount, including foreign currency claims and
81
III. Central Bank Operations
In line with its efforts to promote financial liberalization and internationalization, the Bank's
foreign exchange management has mainly been focusing on maintaining the market mechanism,
and financial capital can, in principle, flow freely in and out of Taiwan. As of 2021, financial capital
flows not involving NT dollar conversion have been able to flow freely. Additionally, there are no
restrictions on financial flows involving NT dollar conversion for goods and service trade, nor for direct
and securities investments approved by the competent authorities. Regulation only exists for short-
term remittances. Annual remittances for an individual resident within US$5 million and for a juridical
person within US$50 million can be settled by banks directly, while annual remittances above the
aforementioned amounts require the approval of the Bank. Each transaction for a nonresident
within US$0.1 million can be settled by banks directly, whereas any transaction amount above that
threshold requires the approval of the Bank. Measures with regard to the management of capital
flows in 2021 included:
(1) As the Financial Supervisory Commission amended The Act Governing Electronic Payment Institutions,
which allows electronic payment institutions and foreign migrant worker remittance institutions to
undertake small amount remittance business, the Bank therefore amended both the Regulations
Governing the Declaration of Foreign Exchange Receipts and Disbursements or Transactions and the
Directions for Banking Enterprises While Assisting Customers to Declare Foreign Exchange Receipts
and Disbursements or Transactions accordingly, effective July 1, 2021.
In 2021, cases of fund-raising by domestic and foreign institutions through securities issuance,
approved by or filed for record to the Bank, are shown in the following table.
82
CBC Annual Report 2021
Pursuant to The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Act and the Foreign Exchange
Regulation Act, the Bank reviews, authorizes and supervises banks to conduct foreign exchange
business accordingly. In 2021, the Bank continued to approve bank branches as authorized foreign
exchange banks and loosened restrictions on foreign exchange derivative product business in
order to facilitate authorized foreign exchange banks' competitiveness and service quality. Major
developments in 2021 were as follows.
a. At the end of 2021, there were 3,465 authorized foreign exchange banks in total, which included
37 head offices and 3,390 branches of domestic banks, 35 branches of foreign banks, three
branches of Mainland Chinese banks, as well as 4,647 authorized money exchangers, post offices,
and financial institutions authorized to engage in basic foreign exchange business.
b. The Bank amended the Regulations Governing Foreign Exchange Business of Banking Enterprises on
January 28, 2021 to simplify procedures and qualifications for commercial banks to apply to become
authorized foreign exchange banks. Restrictions were also relaxed for authorized banks to issue foreign
currency bank debentures linked to derivatives or structured notes.
c. The Bank amended the Directions Governing Authorized Banks for Operating Foreign Exchange
Businesses Through Electronic or Communications Equipment on December 30, 2021. Authorized
banks can undertake customers' foreign exchange business through electronic or communications
equipment without making a prior application as long as such business does not involve NT dollar
conversion.
83
III. Central Bank Operations
As of the end of 2021, the numbers of insurance companies allowed to engage in traditional
and in investment-linked foreign currency insurance business were both 21. The foreign currency
premium revenue increased by US$3.55 billion, or 10.3%, from the previous year to US$37.96 billion in
2021.
a. The Bank amended the regulations on limits on foreign currency bills and bonds as well as
foreign currency borrowings and loans by bills finance companies and broadened the scope of
counterparties on October 20, 2021.
b. Approved cases for securities firms and bills finance companies to conduct foreign exchange business
in 2021 are listed in the following table.
Proprietary foreign securities trad-ing neither belonging to investment with their own
3
funds nor for hedging needs
Bills Finance companies Auditing, underwriting, brokering, proprietary trading business of foreign currency bills 1
Source: Department of Foreign Exchange, CBC.
The approved cases granted by the Bank for investment trust and investment consulting firms
and futures firms (concurrently operating as a leverage transaction merchant) to conduct foreign
exchange business as of 2021 are shown in the following table.
84
CBC Annual Report 2021
To diversify equity ownership and to improve management on foreign exchange brokers, the
Bank amended the Regulations Governing Foreign Exchange Brokers on September 14, 2021. The
amendments included broadening the scope of related parties, applying the investment cap to the
combined amount of investments by stipulating different investment caps according to the type of
financial institution to which their related parties belong and adding in required qualifications for
promoters, directors and supervisors, and responsible persons of foreign exchange brokers.
(1) Taiwan's foreign currency clearing platform was consigned by the Bank and established by the
Financial Information Service Co. The platform offers services for domestic and cross-border (including
cross-strait) remittances of the Chinese renminbi and the Japanese yen, and domestic remittances
of the US dollar, the euro, and the Australian dollar. The platform adopts a payment-versus-payment
(PVP) mechanism among banks, a liquidity-saving mechanism for foreign currency remittances, and
a delivery-versus-payment (DVP) mechanism for foreign currency bonds and bills. It has continued to
function smoothly since its inauguration in 2013.
Settlements in 2021
Domestic Participating
Currency
Units
Number of Transactions Amount
Offshore Banking
(1) The Bank collaborated with the Financial Supervisory Commission in its amendment to the Regulations
Governing Domestic Juridical Persons Opening Accounts for the Purpose of Handling Loan-related
Receipts and Disbursements in Offshore Banking Units, including relaxing the restriction on transaction
counterparties of the loan-related accounts to meet the practical need for credit business. The
amended draft entered the preview process on December 8, 2021.
85
III. Central Bank Operations
At the end of 2021, the number of OBUs came to 59, and total OBU assets increased by
US$10.46 billion, or 4.4%, over the previous year to US$249.92 billion. The net income after tax of all
OBUs amounted to US$3.22 billion, decreasing by US$0.31 billion, or 8.8%, from a year before.
At the end of 2021, the number of OSUs stood at 19, and total OSU assets reached
US$4.54 billion, a decrease of US$1.27 billion or 21.9%. The net income after tax of the business
also decreased by US$130.9 million, or 71.2%, to US$53.0 million for 2021.
As of the end of 2021, the number of OIUs was 20, with a total amount of assets of US$1 billion,
which was US$0.01 billion or 1.0% more than the previous year end. The net income after tax of all
OIUs decreased to US$18.3 million, a decline of US$20.7 million or 862.5% from 2021.
86
CBC Annual Report 2021
The Bank plays a crucial role in the functioning of Taiwan's payment and settlement systems,
and operates the CBC Interbank Funds Transfer System (CIFS) and the Central Government Securities
The CIFS serves as the hub of Taiwan's payment and settlement systems, linking the interbank
clearing systems operated by the FISC, the Taiwan Clearing House (TCH), the National Credit
Card Center of R.O.C. (NCCC), the Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corporation (TDCC), the
TPEx, and the TWSE, as well as the CGSS, together to construct a comprehensive system.
Call loans
Funds ATM Check
transfers withdrawals clearing
Transaction Open market Government Credit
Securities Bonds2 Bills
Category operations bonds1 NTD & foreign
Bill/tax
cards
ACH
currency transactions
payments
Other funding remittances
activities
Clearing
TWSE TDCC NCCC
FCCP3 FIS
SBECS BCS CCCS
Settlement CIFS
Notes: 1. Including DVP settlements for interbank transactions of central government bonds and treasury bills.
2. Including netting settlements for outright trades of government bonds, corporate bonds, and bank debentures.
3. The CIFS is only responsible for settlements involving NT dollars, while settlements involving foreign currencies are performed by
designated commercial banks.
Source: Department of Banking, CBC.
87
III. Central Bank Operations
In addition, the Bank monitors major payment systems based on the Principles for Financial
Market Infrastructures released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to ensure sound
As a large-value electronic funds transfer system, the CIFS not only deals with interbank funding,
open market operations, and funds settlements in financial markets, but also provides interbank final
amount of funds transferred was NT$2,147 billion, increasing by 6.35% from a year before.10
Established in September 1997, the CGSS is a system for issuance, transfer, redemption, and
interest payment of book-entry central government securities. Since its inception, central government
bonds have been issued in book-entry form. Treasury bills were included in this system in October
2001 and have since been issued in book-entry form.
Since April 2008, when the CGSS linked up with the CIFS, fund settlements, principal
redemptions, and interest payments have been handled through the CIFS using a delivery-
versus-payment (DVP) mode. The DVP mode, promoted by the BIS, is an arrangement in a
securities settlement system to ensure that securities delivery occurs at the same time as the
10 The average transaction volume decreased primarily owing to declines in primary and secondary market transactions in central government bonds and
interbank foreign exchange market transactions. On the other hand, the average transaction value increased mainly because of rises in transactions in
certificates of deposit and interbank call loans.
88
CBC Annual Report 2021
funds transfer, effectively eliminating potential principal risk during the transaction process.
To ensure sound operation of domestic payment and settlement systems and maintain their
safety and efficiency, the Bank conducted the following oversight activities in 2021:
In February 2021, the Bank amended the Directions for the Central Bank of the Republic of China
(Taiwan) to Govern Electronic Interbank Funds Transfer and Settlement after thoroughly examining
The Bank continued to monitor the operation of the large-value payment systems in 2021. During
the year, 22 applications for the CIFS operation time extensions were filed by participating institutions
because of system malfunctions or other contingencies. The Bank required these institutions to
improve the time extension issue.
Payment system operators and electronic payment service providers were required by the Bank
to submit information about their operations and activities with regard to electronic payments on a
regular basis. Furthermore, the Bank kept close watch on the development of financial technology
(fintech) and innovations in the payment industry to assist in providing sound retail payment
infrastructure.
89
III. Central Bank Operations
To ensure business continuity of payment and settlement systems, the Bank supervised
clearing institutions conducting testing of business continuity plans and remote backup
operations in case of emergency. In December 2021, the Bank, together with participants of
the CIFS, performed system-wide testing of the operating procedures to ensure that the backup
systems would operate smoothly when an emergency occurs and relevant personnel would be
Since 2019, the Bank has supervised all clearing banks per for ming backup drills in the
November 2021, this drill was conducted successfully with 19 clearing banks.
The Bank invites the FSC and clearing institutions to jointly hold two conferences on
"Promoting Sound Operation of the Payment Systems" every year. However, owing to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the conference held for securities clearing institutions including the
TDCC, the TPEx, and the TWSE was suspended and replaced with report submission by the
aforesaid institutions. The November meeting was held as scheduled and attended by payment
clearing institutions including the FISC, the TCH, and the NCCC. The Bank urged clearing
institutions to strengthen business continuity planning, enhance backup drills, and allocate
(7) Strengthening Liquidity Management of the Interbank Funds Transfer Guarantee Special Account
commencement of internet-only banks, the Bank raised the ceiling on the amount of financial
institutions' end-of-day balance in the Interbank Funds Transfer Guarantee Special Account
to be counted as part of the required reserves from 8% to 16%, effective from February 2021.
In 2021, the daily average balance of the Special Account as guarantee funds to ensure the
smooth functioning of the interbank retail payment system on a 24/7 basis was approximately
NT$167 billion.
90
CBC Annual Report 2021
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Ensuring Business Continuity of Payment and Settlement Services During the Pandemic
Period
To ensure business continuity of payment and settlement systems during the pandemic, CIFS
participating institutions were requested to continue complying with the guidance promulgated
by the Bank. For example, participating institutions should deploy appropriate operational staff
depending on the pandemic situation and take the following measures when necessary, such as
implementing remote backup systems and operational measures, entrusting other participating
institutions to assist with transfer or payment of funds, and transferring funds using physical checks.
Furthermore, in May 2021, the Bank reiterated the pandemic precautions for the CGSS
operations which were stipulated in 2020 as guidance to ensure that all CGSS participants maintain
business continuity by means of off-site working and other measures. As a whole, the domestic
payment and settlement systems operated smoothly throughout the year without being disrupted by
the pandemic.
Continuing to Urge the FISC to Assist in Providing Sound Mobile Payment Infrastructure
for Financial Institutions
payment institutions and between electronic payment institutions and financial institutions, the Bank
required the FISC to construct an "inter-institutional electronic payment institutions platform," which
was launched in October 2021, to provide the funds transfer service. The platform would also be
In addition, to improve the convenience of interbank funds transfer, the FISC launched the
91
III. Central Bank Operations
"mobile number funds transfer" service in September 2020 to allow users to transfer funds by linking
one mobile phone number to one bank account as a payee account. Later, the service was
expanded for users to designate one mobile number to multiple bank accounts in September 2021.
As of the end of 2021, 29 financial institutions provided the service of mobile number funds transfer.
Among them, eight financial institutions offered users the option to link multiple bank account with
The Bank completed the first phase of the CBDC research, which was a technical study on the
feasibility of a wholesale CBDC in June 2020. The results showed the limitations of applying distributed
ledger technology (DLT) to CBDCs because the DLT's performance could not meet the needs for
real-time, high-frequency, and large-scale payment transactions. The ongoing second phase is a
proof-of-concept (PoC) study on a general purpose CBDC, which already entered the technical
experimentation stage. A prototype for a CBDC platform was established to simulate the CBDC
in retail payment use cases, and the study is expected to be completed in September 2022. The
experiment results will be disclosed at an appropriate time and serve as a basis for public discussion,
which the Bank plans to use to broadly solicit stakeholders' opinions to assess the possibility of CBDC
issuance.
92
CBC Annual Report 2021
5. Currency Issuance
As the sole agency with the authority to issue banknotes and coins, the Bank continued in 2021
to ensure a stable currency supply to meet public demand, which is subject to domestic economic
conditions, seasonal factors, and the development of noncash payment instruments. The Bank also
issued commemorative coin sets featuring the Chinese zodiac of the year and national parks of Taiwan.
Furthermore, to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank was instructed to
design and print the Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers as part of government efforts to stimulate and revive
the economy. Meanwhile, the Bank continued to promote public awareness of counterfeit deterrence
and encourage the use of circulating currency through various channels. The Bank also developed
easy-to-use assistive devices to aid the visually impaired in identifying NT dollar banknotes.
2,800
day before the Lunar New Year holidays,
2,700
reflecting a temporary seasonal surge in cash
2,600
demand. At the year end, the outstanding
2,500
amount of currency issued was NT$2,948.4 billion,
2,400
rising by NT$343.9 billion or 13.21% over the 2,300
NT$1,000 NT$1,000
88.07 % 87.14 %
Source: CBC.
93
III. Central Bank Operations
of 2021 was similar to the end of 2020. The majority of circulating banknotes went for the NT$1,000
note with a share of 88.07%, followed by the NT$100 and NT$500 notes with shares of 4.57% and
3.55%, respectively.
The Bank may also issue gold and silver coins and commemorative coins from time to
time, such as for important ceremonies, national holidays, major international events, or other
significant national events. During 2021, the Bank issued a casting set of coins for the Chinese
Zodiac Year of the Ox and the tenth coin set of the National Parks of Taiwan series – Shoushan
Source: CBC.
94
CBC Annual Report 2021
The Bank was Instructed to Print Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers to Assist Reviving Consumption
domestic COVID-19 flare-up and encourage consumption, the government rolled out the
Quintuple Stimulus Voucher program, 11 effective from October 8. The Central Engraving and
Printing Plant, a subsidiary of the Bank, conducted the design of the vouchers with anti-
counterfeiting techniques in August, and later completed the production of 19.5 million sets of
paper vouchers (each set containing three NT$1,000 vouchers, two NT$500 vouchers and five
Source: CBC.
The Bank Continued to Encourage the Use of Circulating Currency and Raise Public
Awareness of Counterfeit Money
In order to deter and prevent counterfeiting, reduce currency issuing costs, and protect the
environment by maximizing existing resources, the Bank launched several advertising campaigns
during 2021 to enhance public understanding on the security features of NT dollar notes and
11 Under the voucher program, any citizen born before April 30, 2022, foreign spouse, permanent foreign resident, or accredited diplomat can register to receive
the Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers in digital or paper form. These vouchers are worth NT$5,000 and will be free of charge. Consumers could use the stimulus
vouchers for dining, travel, leisure, or shopping expenses from October 8, 2021 to April 30, 2022.
95
III. Central Bank Operations
While striving to improve the cleanliness of currency by inspecting returned banknotes and
destroying damaged ones, the Bank also continued to urge the public to help maintain the
Educational materials for these campaigns were provided through multiple channels. For
example, relevant videos were broadcasted on media such as the Bank's website, the Virtual
Money Museum, YouTube, and the Bank's official mobile app. Information was also posted on the
Bank's Facebook fan page and displayed on public transportation. Leaflets were distributed to
The Bank Was Devoted to Providing the Visually Impaired with Barrier-free Access to Currency
Since 2020, the Bank has carried out a program to promote the "visually impaired-friendly NT
dollar banknote identification service." The Bank made multifaceted efforts to improve the ability
of visually impaired people to recognize banknotes by producing audio materials and entrusting
local visually impaired support groups to assist in education, and by developing easy-to-use
assistive devices such as the NT dollar banknote gauge card, which have been distributed for
Raised-Dot Tactile Feature of NTD Banknotes (Left) and NTD Banknote Gauge
Card (Right) for the Visually Impaired
Source: CBC.
96
CBC Annual Report 2021
The Bank's Virtual Money Museum has been running smoothly since it came on line in June 2013.
In response to increased use of mobile technologies and the needs of various platforms and devices,
the Bank launched the upgraded version of the Virtual Money Museum website in August 2020. For
instance, the Virtual Exhibition Hall of the above website allowed viewers to browse banknotes from
Annual Exhibition 2021 Titled "Human Rights Fighters" on the Virtual Money Museum Website
Source: CBC.
97
III. Central Bank Operations
The Bank, as the fiscal agent of the government, offers services for the national treasury, such
as handling the treasury deposit account (TDA), managing central government agency deposit
accounts, and undertaking the issuance, transfer and registration, redemption, and interest payment
The Bank manages the TDA on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, processing receipts
and disbursements of the central government. In order to provide convenient services for
government agencies and the general public, the Bank delegates the handling of treasury
business to 14 financial institutions and their 367 branches, including three overseas branches
located in New York, Los Angeles, and Paris. In addition, there are another 4,746 national tax
collection agencies set in financial institutions. In 2021, the Bank received a total of NT$4,197.9 billion
in treasury deposits, an increase of NT$264.7 billion or 6.73% over the previous year. Payments made
on behalf of the national treasury were NT$4,183.5 billion, increasing by NT$245.7 billion or 6.24% from
2020. At the end of 2021, the TDA balance was NT$67.7 billion, an increase of NT$14.3 billion or 26.78%
Central government agencies are required to make their deposits with the Bank or other
delegated banks. At the end of 2021, the balance of central government agencies' deposits
with the Bank amounted to NT$184.2 billion, a slight increase of NT$0.8 billion or 0.44% over 2020.
Deposits with other delegated banks were NT$657.5 billion at the end of 2021, increasing by
As a fiscal agent, the Bank provides services related to the issuance, transfer and registration,
redemption, and interest payment of central government bonds. The Bank also conducts the
auctions of central government bonds. There are 57 domestic dealers qualified to directly participate
in the auctions, including 23 banks, 19 securities companies, eight bills finance companies, six
In 2021, the Bank conducted 20 issues of central government bonds in book-entry form worth
98
CBC Annual Report 2021
NT$617.0 billion. Of this amount, 10-year bonds accounted for the lion's share of 34.04%, with NT$210.0
billion, followed by 20-year bonds, representing a share of 21.07% with an amount of NT$130.0 billion.
In addition, the Bank paid NT$467.0 billion in principal and NT$88.1 billion in interest for central
government bonds. At the end of 2021, the outstanding amount of central government bonds was
NT$5,674.5 billion, an increase of NT$150.0 billion or 2.72% from the previous year end.
The Bank also handles the auctions of treasury bills. Currently, direct bidders include banks,
insurance companies, securities companies, bills finance companies, and Chunghwa Post.
In 2021, the Bank conducted 10 issues of book-entry treasury bills with a total amount of
NT$320.0 billion. The majority of the issuance went for 91-day bills with NT$165.0 billion, or a share
of 51.56%. At the end of 2021, the outstanding amount of treasury bills was NT$115.0 billion, a
99
III. Central Bank Operations
7. Financial Inspection
Pursuant to the objectives and duties stipulated in The Central Bank of the Republic of China
(Taiwan) Act, the Bank conducts targeted examinations to ensure that monetary, credit, and
foreign exchange policies are implemented effectively. The Bank has also established a report
auditing system and a financial stability assessment framework to systematically monitor and assess
possible sources of potential risks. The Bank adopts appropriate policies accordingly, in a timely
manner to achieve the operational goal of financial stability. The following are the main tasks
conducted in 2021.
On-Site Examination
Targeted examinations in 2021 were conducted on real estate mortgage loans and related fund
flows, loan pricing policies, foreign exchange inward and outward remittances, customers' foreign
exchange settlement of loans from abroad, derivatives transactions involving NTD exchange rates,
deficiency corrections for forward exchange transactions, and counterfeit money processing of NTD
and foreign currencies, etc.
To ensure the effectiveness of the Bank's policies, the Bank continued to track whether the
financial institutions under inspection had improved their operations based on the findings from
the Bank's targeted examinations as well as the results of the Financial Supervisory Commission's
financial examinations related to the Bank's operations or regulations. A particular focus in 2021 was
on violations of the Regulations Governing the Extension of Mortgage Loans by Financial Institutions,
followed up by administrative actions by the Bank.
In view of changes in financial conditions and amendments to financial regulations, the Bank
constantly reviews and revises all relevant reporting forms and contents of statistical data submitted
by financial institutions. Developments related to off-site monitoring in 2021 included the following:
(1) To strengthen its effectiveness of off-site monitoring of domestic banks, the analytical items and
principles of the report auditing system CARSEL were reviewed and modified.
(2) Relevant reports and their analytical categories of financial institutions were modified in accordance
with the amendments to "the Methods for Calculating Bank's Regulatory Capital and Risk-Weighted
Assets" and the Regulations Governing Foreign Bank Branches and Representative Offices, as well
100
CBC Annual Report 2021
as the announcements and modifications of related regulations and administrative orders including
the Regulations Governing Domestic Juridical Persons Opening Accounts for the Purpose of Handling
Loan-Related Receipts and Disbursements in Offshore Banking Units.
(3) In accordance with the revisions to the Country Exposure Report and its related analytical programs,
banks were required to submit the completed Reports through the Bank's Financial Information
Online Reporting System.
The Bank regularly compiles and publishes financial institution statistics, such as Condition and
Performance of Domestic Banks (Quarterly) and Business Overview of Financial Institutions (Yearly).
All related information is disclosed on the Bank's website and available for inquiry and download,
with the aim of strengthening information transparency of financial institutions' operations and to
reinforce market discipline.
The Bank regularly conducts analysis on commercial banks' business operations and their risk
exposure so as to identify potential risks to the stability of the overall financial system. It also compiles
financial soundness indicators and publishes the Financial Stability Report to keep the public
updated on the state of the domestic financial system and sources of potential risks and to aid
cross-border communication and information sharing.
To enhance analytical effectiveness regarding financial stability, the Bank continued to improve
the graphical user interface (GUI) of credit and market risk models and estimated domestic banks'
value at risk (VaR) and unexpected losses from related risks, so as to capture the vulnerability of the
banking system and to take preemptive measures.
In addition, climate change-related issues, which have increasingly drawn supervisory authorities'
attention, have created new challenges and risks to central banks' conduct of monetary policy
and the statutory mandate to maintain financial stability. In this view, the Bank devised strategies
for addressing climate change issues, aiming to mitigate the impacts of related risks on domestic
economic and financial systems so as to maintain financial stability and foster sustainable
development of Taiwan's economy.
In 2021, the Bank continued to actively engage in international cooperation related to financial
supervision, such as attending the 12th SEACEN Meeting of Deputy Governors in Charge of Financial
101
III. Central Bank Operations
Stability and Banking Supervision, the 23rd SEACEN-FSI Conference of the Directors of Supervision of
Asia-Pacific Economies, and the 34 th Meeting of Directors of Supervision of SEACEN Members (all
held in virtual format). The Bank's delegates also attended international teleconferences, online
courses, and webinars on financial supervision and financial stability.
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CBC Annual Report 2021
The Bank's endeavors to take part in international activities continued in 2021. As a member,
the Bank hosts conferences, provides training courses, and attends numerous forums, including the
annual meetings organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Central American Bank for
Economic Integration (CABEI), and the South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) group. Furthermore,
the Bank strengthens its ties with other central banks and related institutions to exchange views and
share policy experience on current financial and economic issues.
In 2021, the Bank attended the 57th SEACEN Governor's Conference held virtually on December
6. At this conference, the Bank exchanged views with other member banks on the deep economic
and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, and reaffirmed its
commitment to help mitigate the pandemic's impact through policy responses on macroeconomic
and financial fronts.
The Bank also attended the 12 th SEACEN Online High-Level Seminar and Meeting of Deputy
Governors of Financial Stability and Supervision during August 18 to 19.
In the meantime, the Bank participated in the meetings held virtually by other international
organizations, such as the CABEI's 61st Ordinary Meeting of the Board of Governors on September 3,
and the BIS' 91st Annual General Meeting on June 28 and 29.
103
III. Central Bank Operations
104
CBC Annual Report 2021
Chronology of Events of
the CBC in 2021
105
Chronology of Events of the CBC in 2021
Jan. 21 The CBC issued a commemorative coin set for the Xin Chou Year of the Ox
(2021).
25 The CBC raised the ceiling ratio for the daily balance of the "interbank funds
transfer guarantee special accounts" of financial institutions to be counted
as part of the required reserves from 8% to 16%, effective from February 4,
2021.
18 The CBC increased the monthly bidding amount for 2-year certificates of
deposit from NT$40 billion to NT$60 billion from February 2021 onwards.
106
CBC Annual Report 2021
Date Event
Mar. 19 The CBC amended the "Regulations for the Central Bank of the Republic
of China (Taiwan)'s Handling of the Special Accommodation Facility to
Support Bank Credit to SMEs Affected by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)"
(hereinafter the Special Facility Regulations) to extend the expiry date of the
facility to December 31, 2021.
Apr. 15 The CBC increased the monthly bidding amount for 2-year certificates of
deposit from NT$60 billion to NT$80 billion from April 2021 onwards.
May 7 The CBC met with 36 domestic banks to urge them to reinforce risk
management associated with real estate loans subject to the CBC's
selective credit controls and to comply with the relevant regulations and the
risk-based pricing rule.
Jun. 3 The CBC amended the Special Facility Regulations, including expanding
the size of the facility to NT$400 billion, extending the deadline for SME
applications to December 31, 2021, and stretching the applicable duration
of preferential interest rates on newly-approved cases through to June 30,
2022. Those amendments were effective from June 4, 2021.
17 The CBC's Board decided to keep the discount rate, the rate on refinancing
of secured loans, and the rate on temporary accommodations unchanged
at 1.125%, 1.5%, and 3.375%, respectively.
The CBC amended the name and the content of the Regulations Governing
the Establishment and Audit of Reserves on Stored Value Funds Received by
Specialized Electronic Payment Institutions, including broadening the scope
of specialized electronic payment institutions and modifying the calculation
method of reserve requirements on stored value funds, effective from July 1,
2021.
23 The CBC amended the Special Facility Regulations to increase the maximum
107
Chronology of Events of the CBC in 2021
Date Event
loan amount for each small-scale business entity from NT$0.5 million to NT$1
million, effective from June 24, 2021.
Aug. 24 The CBC signed an agreement of cooperation with the Central Bank of
Paraguay.
Sep. 14 The CBC amended the Regulations Governing Foreign Exchange Brokers,
strengthening the management of foreign exchange brokers while upholding
the principle of dispersion of share ownership by imposing shareholding limits
on the combined amount invested by both the investor and the investor's
related parties, effective from September 16, 2021.
Oct. 1 The CBC met with 36 domestic banks and the National Federation of Credit
Cooperatives, R.O.C., to urge stronger risk management of real estate loans
in accordance with the CBC's selective credit controls and reiterated the
108
CBC Annual Report 2021
Date Event
Nov. 11 The CBC issued the New Taiwan dollar uncirculated coin set of the National
15 The CBC reduced the monthly bidding amount for 2-year certificates of
deposit from NT$80 billion to NT$60 billion from November 2021 onwards.
1. Keeping the discount rate, the rate on refinancing of secured loans, and
value housing loans and third (or more) housing loans taken by natural
persons, land loans, loans for unsold new housing units, and mortgage
loans for idle land in industrial districts, effective from December 17,
2021.
The CBC amended the Special Facility Regulations, effective from December
16, 2021. For the facility's accommodations to banks, those due for
repayment by December 31, 2021 would be rolled over to June 30, 2022.
30 The CBC amended the Directions Governing Authorized Banks for Operating
against the New Taiwan dollar, effective from December 30, 2021.
109
Financial Statements of the CBC
Assets
Foreign Assets 15,338,720 15,261,054 77,666 0.51
Due from Domestic Banks 1,216,264 1,191,798 24,466 2.05
Loans and Accommodations to Financial Institutions 630,665 444,367 186,298 41.92
Other Assets 1,663,710 1,121,045 542,665 48.41
Total Assets 18,849,359 18,018,264 831,095 4.61
Liabilities
Currency Issued 2,948,411 2,604,479 343,932 13.21
Deposits of Financial Institutions 2,412,509 2,243,078 169,431 7.55
Certificates of Deposit Issued 9,482,650 9,168,090 314,560 3.43
Redeposits of Financial Institutions 2,152,960 2,152,262 698 0.03
Government Deposits 252,394 236,888 15,506 6.55
Other Liabilities 398,448 454,586 -56,138 -12.35
Total Liabilities 17,647,372 16,859,383 787,989 4.67
2. Income Statement
Unit: NTD Millions
2021 2020
Income
Interest Income 290,943 322,914
Fee Income 111 107
Foreign Exchange Gains 12,412 45,423
Revenue from Trust Investment 6,732 15,101
Subsidiaries' Investment Income 1,945 1,908
Others 437 631
Total Income 312,580 386,084
Expenses
Interest Expenses 48,355 57,577
Fee Expenses 221 221
Expenses for Coin Issuance 1,385 1,269
Expenses for Banknote Issuance 4,088 2,946
Allowances 48,568 104,797
Operating Expenses 1,459 1,463
Administrative Expenses 523 522
Others 1,325 1,040
Total Expenses 105,924 169,835
Note: Figures for 2021 are unaudited. Figures for 2020 are audited by the National Audit Office.
110
CBC Annual Report 2021
NDC (1) TIER (2) Economic Per Unemploy- Annual Rate of Change in
Manufacturing Sector
Total Score Business Composite Index Growth Capita ment Industrial Production Indices
of (2006=100) Rate GNI Rate
Year Monitoring Labor Average Unit
(Average) Productivity Monthly Labor Cost
Indicators
General Manufacturing
Index Earnings Index
Manufacturing Services
(Per Employee) Growth Rate
(Average) Sector Sector (%) (US$) (%) (2016=100) (NT$) (%) (%) (%)
2012 17 91.72 90.66 2.22 21,922 4.24 89.98 45,238 2.16 0.50 0.56
2013 20 98.07 94.54 2.48 22,552 4.18 92.20 45,448 -1.98 3.21 3.40
2014 25 100.59 98.45 4.72 23,492 3.96 95.82 47,018 -0.93 6.41 6.83
2015 17 93.91 89.36 1.47 23,367 3.78 95.00 48,713 6.31 -1.28 -1.16
2016 21 97.13 87.05 2.17 23,684 3.92 100.00 49,162 -0.44 1.97 1.91
2017 24 98.96 92.56 3.31 25,704 3.76 103.53 50,678 -0.65 5.00 5.27
2018 23 95.99 94.93 2.79 26,421 3.71 105.97 52,948 3.23 3.65 3.93
2019 21 93.86 92.27 3.06 26,561 3.73 105.80 53,776 0.95 -0.35 -0.45
2020 24 94.11 91.64 3.36 29,202 3.85 114.86 54,004 -7.11 7.08 7.56
2021 37 104.20 96.97 6.45 33,638 3.95 129.23 57,385 -6.26 13.42 14.26
Notes: (1) NDC : National Development Council.
(2) T I E R : Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.
Annual Rate Annual Rate of Gross Gross External Trade of Goods on Customs Basis
(in US Dollars)
of Change in Change in National Domestic
Gross Fixed Annual Rate of Change in Total Exports Annual Rate of Trade Annual Rate
Private Savings Investment
Year
Consumption Capital Private / / China Change Capital Balance of Change
in Equipment
Expenditure Formation Sector GNI GDP and U. S. Japan Europe ASEAN (3) in Export
Total
H. K. Imports Orders
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (US$mn) (%)
2012 1.92 -1.28 1.38 30.45 22.69 -2.2 -3.8 -9.1 2.1 -7.9 9.6 -3.8 -7.3 28,848 1.1
2013 2.55 7.03 9.16 32.39 22.54 1.8 3.5 -1.5 -0.6 -3.3 3.8 0.3 6.0 33,481 0.4
2014 3.70 3.50 5.48 34.35 22.56 2.7 2.5 7.4 3.8 4.2 1.5 1.3 4.6 38,318 6.7
2015 2.86 2.68 4.28 35.46 21.73 -11.0 -12.5 -1.7 -2.8 -11.0 -14.1 -15.9 -1.5 48,053 -4.4
2016 2.64 3.44 4.08 35.21 21.63 -1.8 -0.4 -3.1 -0.4 1.0 -0.7 -3.0 10.5 49,975 -1.6
2017 2.70 -0.26 -1.16 35.61 20.97 13.0 16.0 10.1 5.7 10.2 14.2 12.2 -1.3 58,287 10.9
2018 2.05 3.19 2.45 34.77 22.24 5.9 6.1 7.4 10.8 8.7 -0.7 10.7 3.2 49,216 3.9
2019 2.25 11.12 12.03 34.74 23.80 -1.5 -4.2 17.1 2.1 -4.8 -7.2 0.3 21.2 43,506 -5.3
2020 -2.53 5.91 4.53 38.39 24.19 4.9 14.6 9.3 0.5 -5.5 -1.3 0.2 3.7 58,978 10.1
2021 -0.38 14.68 19.05 42.22 26.85 29.4 24.8 30.0 24.8 36.8 32.0 33.2 31.0 65,421 26.3
Note: (3) ASEAN: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
111
Key Economic and Financial Indicators
Monetary Aggregates
Annual Rate of Change of Reserve Money (Daily Average)
Price Indices (%) (Daily Average)
M1B M2
Year
Annual Annual Annual
Wholesale Import Export
Amount Growth Amount Growth Amount Growth
CPI Core CPI (4) Price Price Price
Rate (5) Rate Rate
2012 1.93 0.99 -1.16 -1.28 -1.62 2,761.6 4.91 11,946.7 3.45 33,037.6 4.17
2013 0.79 0.66 -2.43 -4.45 -2.06 2,959.9 7.18 12,815.8 7.27 34,616.7 4.78
2014 1.20 1.27 -0.56 -2.09 0.10 3,165.4 6.94 13,836.1 7.96 36,576.7 5.66
2015 -0.30 0.78 -8.85 -12.94 -4.67 3,348.8 5.79 14,680.0 6.10 38,894.1 6.34
2016 1.39 0.84 -2.98 -3.08 -2.70 3,547.2 5.92 15,609.8 6.33 40,646.9 4.51
2017 0.62 1.04 0.90 1.36 -1.46 3,725.9 5.04 16,336.3 4.65 42,170.8 3.75
2018 1.35 1.21 3.63 6.13 1.45 3,934.9 5.61 17,205.3 5.32 43,653.4 3.52
2019 0.56 0.49 -2.26 -1.47 -2.82 4,187.7 6.42 18,435.5 7.15 45,163.7 3.46
2020 -0.23 0.35 -7.77 -10.23 -7.21 4,547.3 8.59 20,340.8 10.34 47,803.2 5.84
2021 1.96 1.33 9.44 10.53 6.54 5,101.3 12.18 23,654.1 16.29 51,970.7 8.72
Notes: (4) Core CPI refers to CPI excluding the categories of fruit, vegetables and energy.
(5) The annual growth rates are adjusted for most recent changes both in required reserve ratios (on Jan. 1, 2011), and in the share of required reserves
deposited with the Bank's B account (Nov. 2001).
2012 33,300.4 3.09 25,548.8 5.69 0.40 1.875 0.428 0.79 1.21 1.35 1.61
2013 35,062.4 5.29 26,720.6 4.59 0.38 1.875 0.386 0.69 1.46 1.35 1.70
2014 37,133.9 5.91 28,110.6 5.20 0.25 1.875 0.387 0.62 1.60 1.35 1.68
2015 39,355.8 5.98 29,406.3 4.61 0.23 1.625 0.353 0.58 1.39 1.21 1.67
2016 40,717.4 3.46 30,549.2 3.89 0.27 1.375 0.193 0.39 0.82 1.07 1.47
2017 42,094.0 3.38 32,022.7 4.82 0.28 1.375 0.178 0.44 1.06 1.07 1.41
2018 43,195.8 2.62 33,747.5 5.39 0.24 1.375 0.183 0.49 0.94 1.07 1.37
2019 45,086.1 4.38 35,422.4 4.96 0.21 1.375 0.182 0.55 0.74 1.07 1.39
2020 49,219.7 9.17 37,826.6 6.79 0.22 1.125 0.102 0.39 0.48 0.82 1.27
2021 52,757.0 7.19 40,999.6 8.39 0.17 1.125 0.081 0.26 0.44 0.82 1.20
Notes: (6) The data are based on the new NPL definition released by the Financial Supervisory Commission in Dec. 2001, which include loans under surveillance.
(7) The five major domestic banks are Bank of Taiwan, Taiwan Coorperative Bank, First Commercial Bank, Hua Nan Commercial Bank and Land Bank of Taiwan.
The deposit/loan interest is based on a floating basis of the interest rate.
112
CBC Annual Report 2021
TWSE(8) Stock Market Bond Market Balance of Payments Foreign Exchange Daily
Exchange Average
Outstanding Current Capital Financial Changes
Stock Total Total Trading Value Reserves Rate Value in
Year Price Trading Account Account Account in Reserve Foreign
Index Value Assets Exchange
Share of
Transactions
(End of Period) Outright
(1966=100) (End of Period) (End of Period)
(Average) (NT$bn) Transactions
(NT$bn) (US$mn) (US$bn) (NT$/US$) (US$bn)
(%)
2012 7,481 20,238.2 7,575.1 86,551.7 21.30 42,925 -24 31,465 15,484 403.17 29.136 23.39
2013 8,093 18,940.9 8,104.6 69,226.1 19.78 49,937 67 41,053 11,318 416.81 29.950 28.93
2014 8,992 21,898.5 8,726.8 68,032.4 21.62 60,607 -8 50,531 13,015 418.98 31.718 31.29
2015 8,959 20,191.5 8,859.5 67,725.7 22.76 72,730 -5 64,972 15,011 426.03 33.066 33.35
2016 8,763 16,771.1 8,720.0 66,817.9 21.81 71,222 -9 58,490 10,663 426.03 32.279 28.92
2017 10,208 23,972.2 8,801.5 61,583.5 20.36 83,053 -12 74,992 12,467 451.50 29.848 28.62
2018 10,620 29,608.9 8,942.4 64,822.1 17.79 70,843 63 58,810 12,499 461.78 30.733 32.08
2019 10,790 26,464.6 8,978.0 57,888.5 18.47 65,161 -3 57,659 16,658 478.13 30.106 32.45
2020 12,075 45,654.3 9,473.0 52,504.7 21.01 94,956 -9 46,251 48,342 529.91 28.508 33.08
2021 16,938 92,290.0 10,056.8 36,138.8 19.68 116,123 3 104,604 20,993 548.41 27.690 33.02
Note: (8)TWSE: Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation.
Sources: 1. National Development Council.
2. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.
3. Department of Statistics, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
4. Statistical Abstract of National Income, DGBAS, Executive Yuan, February 2022.
5. Monthly Statistics of Exports and Imports, Ministry of Finance, February 2022.
6. Banking Bureau, Financial Supervisory Commission.
7. Financial Statistics Monthly, CBC, February 2022.
8. Balance of Payments, CBC, February 2022.
9. Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation.
113
Introduction to CBC Website
https://www.cbc.gov.tw/en/mp-2.html
Introduces the Bank's operations regarding monetary policy and payment systems,
currency issuance, foreign exchange, government securities services, and financial
stability and bank supervision, and contains other crucial information such as press
releases, statistics and publications, and general information about the Bank.
▼ Key Indicators
Displays data charts of the Bank's key indicators that are periodically updated, such as
the NT$/US$ closing rate, foreign exchange reserves, the monetary aggregate M2 annual
growth rate, and interest rates.
114
CBC Annual Report 2021
▼ FAQ
https://www.cbc.gov.tw/en/lp-2168-2.html
Provides a list of frequently asked questions and answers regarding the Bank's operations
and policy-related issues. Information here is updated as needed.
▼ Statistics
https://www.cbc.gov.tw/en/np-507-2.html
Presents statistical data released by the Bank for browsing, querying, and downloading.
115
Introduction to CBC Website
▼ Publications
https://www.cbc.gov.tw/en/lp-535-2.html
Offers occasional notes or reports on topics related to the Bank's operations or international
and domestic economic and financial conditions.
https://knowledge.cbc.gov.tw/front/index
to-understand contents to
operations. Information
issues in finance.
116
CBC Annual Report 2021
https://museum.cbc.gov.tw/web/en-us
Presents information about currency issuance including the history of banknotes and
coins, banknotes and coins in circulation, coin sets and commemorative banknotes and
coins, and security features of the New Taiwan Dollar.
The webpage has been revamped with the "responsive web design" technique, making
it more convenient for users to navigate via computers and mobile devices.
https://museum.cbc.gov.tw/museum
117
Introduction to CBC Website
https://www.cbc.gov.tw/en/sp-opma-form-2.html
For questions or suggestions, please contact the Bank through the following steps. We will
reply to you within 7 working days.
VI. Official Social Media Channels and Mobile Apps (in Chinese Only)
The Bank also provides the latest news and announcements on social networking
sites and our official mobile apps. Stay up-to-date and communicate with us by
following the Bank's social media accounts as below and/or downloading our
mobile apps on iOS or Android devices.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cbc.gov.tw/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCBCTube
Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbcbank
118
CBC Annual Report 2021
Abbreviations
BIS Bank for International Settlements
CD Certificate of deposit
CP Commercial paper
DVP Delivery-versus-payment
FX Foreign exchange
LTV Loan-to-value
119
Abbreviations
PVP Payment-versus-payment
120
Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Annual Report 2021
Publisher: Chin-Long Yang
Editor: Department of Economic Research
Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Publishing Date: June 2022 First Issue Date: June 1962
Published by: Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Address: 2, Roosevelt Rd., Sec. 1, Taipei City 10066, Taiwan (R. O. C.)
Tel: 886 - 2 - 2393 - 6161
http://www.cbc.gov.tw
Distributors:
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from the
publisher is prohibited.