Times Predicts: Financial Crisis May Occur in TaiwanThe latest Asian edition of Times points out that Taiwan may face the most negative economic growth since the beginning of 1970s. The island may repeat the financial crisis as happened in Thailand.The magazine predicted that in the coming six months, Asia's economic growth rate would break the lowest record since the Asian financial crisis in 1997. This round of Asian financial crisis may be originated in the sluggish economic growth in the US, because the major economic sources of Asian countries and regions are from exports. Reports say that major debtors of Taiwan's banks are real estate companies and since Taiwan's real estate business is in recession, over 20 percent of loans become bad assets, resulting in the negative growth, and possibly the lowest level since the beginning of 1970s. All economic indices have slumped, which proves the prediction of the Times. The weighted average index of Taiwan's stocks last Friday dropped to 4,500 points, setting a new low record since August 1995. By PD Online staff member Li Yan |
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