According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector remained high in the first quarter of 2012. At end-March 2012, the share of international assets in total banking assets remained virtually unchanged from end-2011 at 84.7%, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities advanced to 81.3% from 79.7%.

Foreign currencies were the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-March 2012, the shares of Pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.4% and 1.6% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 39.9% and 59.7% of total international assets as well as 44.6% and 53.9% of total international liabilities respectively.

International Banking Assets

At end-March 2012, total international assets grew by 7.3% from a quarter ago or 18.3% from a year earlier to MOP598.1 billion (USD74.8 billion). Within this total, external assets and local assets in foreign currencies expanded year-on-year by 17.4% to MOP460.3 billion and 21.5% to MOP137.8 billion respectively. As a major component of international assets, external loans & deposits increased by 17.5% to MOP431.2 billion. In particular, cross-border non-bank loans expanded by 23.1%.

International Banking Liabilities

Total international liabilities went up by 9.6% from three months ago or 23.8% year-on-year to MOP574.3 billion (USD71.8 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies grew year-on-year by 24.0% to MOP312.9 billion and 23.6% to MOP261.4 billion respectively. Foreign currency deposits held by residents continued to form a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 24.4% to MOP242.5 billion at end-March 2012 from MOP194.9 billion at end-March 2011. Concurrently, overseas non-bank deposits increased by 44.3%.

Breakdown of External Banking Assets and Liabilities by Region

The majority of external assets and liabilities were related to the regions of Asia and Europe. At end-March 2012, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied 35.5% and 23.4% of total external assets respectively, while claims on Portugal and Luxembourg took up 10.6% and 2.7% correspondingly. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and Mainland China accounted for 46.3% and 9.7% of the total respectively while France and Portugal took up respective shares of 5.4% and 2.6%.

The compilation of International Banking Statistics follows the methodology advocated by the Bank for International Settlements in order to facilitate Macao SAR’s participation in the “Locational International Banking Statistics” project of the international organisation.

For enquiry, please contact:

Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao

(Tel：83952532; Fax：28353042)