AI Demand Keeps Taiwan Banks’ FX Loan Growth Above 60%

Foreign-currency deposits and loans at Taiwan’s domestic banks are a key gauge of corporate trade flows, overseas investment and capital spending. Demand has accelerated as artificial-intelligence server makers, semiconductor suppliers and data-center operators expand capacity, while Taiwanese companies build production and sales networks abroad. That activity has increased the need for dollar and other foreign-currency funding.

Data from Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission and central bank showed both measures reaching records at the end of June 2026. Foreign-currency deposits remained above NT$16 trillion, while loans climbed to about NT$865.8 billion. Lending surged 66.96% from a year earlier, driven mainly by AI supply-chain expansion, overseas factory projects and the heavy financing requirements of AI infrastructure.

The artificial intelligence boom has increased cross-border procurement and investment by server, semiconductor and supply-chain companies, raising their need to manage funds for receipts and payments in U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies. Foreign-currency deposits and loans at Taiwan’s domestic banks, tracked by the Financial Supervisory Commission, have therefore become important gauges of export momentum, corporate investment and exchange-rate risk.

By the end of April, foreign-currency deposits at domestic banks were closing in on NT$16 trillion, while foreign-currency loans had climbed to NT$863.3 billion, both record highs. The latest growth was driven mainly by funding demand from AI-related companies, indicating that technology supply-chain expansion and overseas transactions continue to increase the scale of banks’ foreign-currency business.

Rising global investment in AI infrastructure is fueling capacity expansion among Taiwan’s AI server, high-performance computing and electronics suppliers. Companies need more foreign-currency funding for procurement, shipments and working capital. The rapid increase in foreign-currency lending by Taiwanese banks, a gauge of cross-border trade and corporate investment, also shows that AI-related business is spreading from manufacturing revenue to bank lending and trade finance.

Outstanding foreign-currency loans at Taiwanese banks exceeded NT$852.7 billion at the end of March 2026, an all-time high and up 68.89% from the same period in 2025. CTBC Bank, Taipei Fubon Bank and First Commercial Bank said revenue growth in AI servers, HPC and related electronics industries had generated strong demand for trade finance and working capital.

The rapid expansion of AI applications is prompting Taiwanese manufacturers and technology companies to spend more on raw materials, equipment and daily operations, lifting corporate financing demand at domestic banks. Demand from private-sector companies has been particularly strong for working capital and foreign-currency financing, showing that capacity expansion across the AI supply chain has become a key driver of bank lending growth.

Lending by Taiwan’s domestic banks increased by NT$568.7 billion in February from the previous month, the biggest gain for the month on record. The rise was driven mainly by private-sector companies’ funding needs for material purchases and working capital, as well as large, short-term funding allocations by government agencies. The data also showed foreign-currency lending reaching a high, supported by the AI industry’s demand for imported equipment and raw materials.