In recent months, the Taiwanese press has been full of reports concerning the government's plan to speed reform of the financial sector and meet a NT$291 billion $8 billion budget deficit by privatizing a number of state-owned banks. Privatization is one of the key planks of the government's overhaul of a financial sector, which has long been teetering under the weight of a staggering 52 banks, 300 credit co-operatives and about NT$1.03 trillion $30 billion in NPLs.
According to analysts' estimates, the Taiwanese government currently controls roughly 58% of the domestic banking sector, with stakes in 12 major banks see table 1. By 2006, it has said it would...
