TAIPEI - TAIWAN on Tuesday insisted that money saved in local banks would be fully insured with the government imposing emergency rules to protect deposits in an effort to stabilise financial markets.
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan called for calm, urging them not to withdraw money from banks amid the troubles rocking the world economy.
'Don't be afraid. Don't panic. The government will protect your savings,' Mr Liu said while replying a query raised at parliament.
Taiwan's financial regulator, the Financial Supervisory Commission, said the government-owned Central Deposit Insurance Corp. will insure the full amount for each depositor in case a bank fails.
This rule will start immediately and will be effective until further notice, said Mr Ming-Daw Chang, director-general of the Banking Bureau for the Financial Supervisory Commission.
'We have not decided when this rule will expire. It will depend on the global situation,' he said.
This new decision came after the commission said late on Monday that it had decided to double the maximum sum insured for each depositor to NT$3 million ($135,404) from NT$1.5 million.
Meanwhile, Mr Perng Fai-nan, Taiwan's central bank governor, also rallied behind local banks which he insisted are healthy.
Taiwan banks saw their average non-performing loan (NPL) ratio slip to a low of 1.53 at the end of Jul, down from 12.27 per cent at the end of Nov 2001, after domestic banks wrote off more than NT$1.30 trillion in bad debts, according to government figures. -- AFP
