Taipei, Dec. 29 -- The United States remains the top debtor of Taiwan banks for the 41st straight quarter. This means the U.S. owes more money to Taiwanese banks than any other country. According to a report by Focus Taiwan, this trend has continued for more than ten years without any change at the top spot.

Citing data released by the central bank, the report shows that the money Taiwanese banks have tied up in the U.S. grew by USD 4.03 billion. This is an increase of 2.07 per cent from the end of June. By the end of September, the total amount reached USD 198.896 billion. The report noted that Hsieh Jen-chun, who is the deputy head of the central bank's Department of Financial Inspection, said the growth happened because banks put more...