S&P affirms AA-/AA-1A ratings for Taiwan, points to external credit, IT strengths

SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's has affirmed its 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term unsolicited issuer credit ratings on Taiwan, with the outlook stable.
It says Taiwan's strong external position, sound monetary management, and dynamic information technology companies in the private sector support the ratings. Tempering these strengths are its moderate Government debt and a small, open economy that is vulnerable to global economic volatility.

“Taiwan is a strong net external creditor,” S&P says. “We forecast its liquid external assets to exceed gross external debt by an average of 85% of current account receipts over 2014-2017. This is the result of large consistent current account surpluses that are typically 9%-12% of GDP.
“Taiwan's large current account surpluses have enabled it to accumulate high foreign exchange reserves, which we project will exceed US$430 billion (85% of GDP) by the end of 2014, among the highest in the world. www.standardandpoors.com (ATI).