According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector edged up in the third quarter of 2012. At end-September 2012, the share of international assets in total banking assets expanded to 83.7% from 83.3% at end-June 2012, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities grew marginally to 80.3% from 80.2%.

Foreign currencies were the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-September 2012, the shares of Pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.5% and 3.2% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 39.1% and 60.4% of total international assets as well as 50.1% and 46.7% of total international liabilities respectively.

International Banking Assets

At end-September 2012, total international assets went up by 5.2% from a quarter earlier or 19.5% from a year ago to MOP642.8 billion (USD80.5 billion). Within this total, external assets increased by 22.3% year-on-year to MOP493.8 billion while local assets in foreign currencies also expanded by 10.9% to MOP149.0 billion. As a major component of international assets, external loans & deposits advanced by 21.1% to MOP458.3 billion. In particular, cross-border non-bank loans grew by 44.4%.

International Banking Liabilities

Total international liabilities increased by 4.8% from three months ago or 22.8% year-on-year to MOP616.4 billion (USD77.2 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies grew year-on-year by 16.3% to MOP313.5 billion and 30.4% to MOP302.9 billion respectively. Foreign currency deposits held by residents and the MSAR government continued to form a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 30.8% to MOP283.9 billion at end-September 2012 from MOP217.0 billion at end-September 2011. Concurrently, overseas non-bank deposits expanded by 27.9%.

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-September 2012, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied 33.5% and 26.5% of total external assets correspondingly, while claims on Portugal and Germany took up 11.0% and 2.4% respectively. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and Mainland China accounted for 53.2% and 17.6% of the total respectively while France and Portugal took up respective shares of 5.3% and 3.8%.

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)