Banks' deposit reserves lowered

Taiwan's central bank announced yesterday it had cut the proportion of deposits that commercial banks are required to keep in reserve in a move to boost sagging financial markets. The reserves-requirement ratio for checking accounts, passbook accounts and savings deposits would be lowered by 3.75 percentage points to 15 per cent, 13 per cent and 5.50 per cent respectively, central bank governor Perng Fai-nan said. Time deposit accounts and time savings deposits are to be reduced by 0.35 percentage points to 7 per cent and 5 per cent, he said.