BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
PRESS RELEASE Release Date: August 21, 2006
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
For the second quarter of 2006, the current account registered a surplus of US$4.70 billion, the financial account recorded a net outflow of US$6.44 billion, and the Bank's reserve assets increased by US$0.48 billion.
In terms of the current account, both exports and imports reached historically high levels. Exports grew by 13.9% over the same period last year, mainly attributable to an increase in exports to neighboring Asian countries. Imports grew by 10.0%, led by an increase in imports of crude oil and electronic products. Because the increase in exports outpaced imports, goods surplus increased by US$ 2.16 billion over the same quarter last year to US$4.87 billion. The services account deficit declined by US$0.57 billion over the same quarter last year to US$ 1.53 billion, mainly caused by an increase in merchanting trade surplus. Income surplus rose by US$0.28 billion over the same quarter last year to US$2.49 billion, mainly due to the increase in income earned from equity investments by residents and greater interest earnings from banks’ offshore banking units (OBUs). Current transfer deficit dropped by US$0.07 billion from the year-ago level to US$1.13 billion. In sum, increases in goods and income surpluses, coupled with decreases in services and current transfer deficits, led the current account surplus to expand by US$3.07 billion or 188.0% from the same quarter last year to US$4.70 billion.
With regard to the financial account, direct investment and portfolio investment exhibited net outflows of US$0.79 billion and US$6.64 billion, respectively. Portfolio investment abroad by residents registered a net outflow of US$11.51 billion, the second highest figure following the second quarter of 2003. The increase was mainly attributable to a sharp increase in residents' investment in foreign securities through banks' earmarked trust funds and higher portfolio investment abroad by local insurance companies pursuing higher returns. Portfolio investment by non-residents recorded a net inflow of US$4.87 billion. Financial derivatives registered a net outflow of US$0.38 billion. Other investment exhibited a net inflow of US$1.37 billion, primarily on account of the remittance of deposits from abroad by the private sector and the foreign funds introduced into domestic market by the banking sector.
For the first half of this year, the current account showed a surplus of US$10.63 billion, the financial account exhibited a net outflow of US$10.25 billion, and the Bank’s reserve assets increased by US$2.72 billion.
Tables & Graphs [ XLS ]
Notes: 1. The next balance of payments data will be released at 16:20 p.m. on November 20, 2006.
2. For the release schedule for the next six months, please check the CBC website at http://www.cbc.gov.tw/EngHome/ESDDS/calacal.asp.