Taiwan's RMB deposits hit new high of 123.2b in October

That's in domestic and offshore banking units.

According to DBS, Taiwan's renminbi deposits in domestic and offshore banking units surged to a new high of 123.2bn in October. The month-on-month growth rate accelerated to 25%, the fastest since March.

Here's more from DBS:

The RMB-TWD interest rate differentials have widened, encouraging local investors to convert to the renminbi deposits. The 1-year RMB time deposit rate offered by the Bank of Taiwan rose by 25bps to 1.50% in October, surpassing the 1.35% for TWD deposits.

The rate differentials may widen further next year, as the PBOC is expected to tighten monetary policy earlier than Taiwan’s central bank, due to relatively strong recovery prospects
and inflation pressures.

Meanwhile, the expectations are also mounting that China may step up interest rate liberalization and allow for greater exchange rate flexibility, after the government this month announced a comprehensive economic
reform plan emphasizing the “decisive role of market forces”.

Meanwhile, it seems that a rising number of Taiwanese firms have started to use renminbi as the trade settlement currency. The latest SWIFT data showed that RMB customer payments – a proxy for trade settlement – surged 109% YoY in Asia (excluding China and Hong Kong) in 3Q.

Taiwan was the main contributor to this growth, accounting for a share of 41.8%. Given that Taiwan enjoys a large trade surplus with China, trade settlement will provide a strong source for accumulating the renminbi funds pool, laying the foundation for Taiwan to build an offshore RMB market.