According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector retreated slightly in the third quarter of 2015. At end-September 2015, the share of international assets in total banking assets fell marginally to 86.1% from 86.6% at end-June 2015, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities decreased mildly to 82.3% from 83.0%.

Non-local currencies continued to be the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-September 2015, the shares of the pataca in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.6% and 1.7% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar, US Dollar, the renminbi and other foreign currencies accounted for 37.0%, 37.4%, 19.3% and 5.6% of total international assets as well as 39.5%, 37.8%, 16.7% and 4.3% of total international liabilities respectively.

International Banking Assets

At end-September 2015, total international assets advanced by 1.9% from a quarter ago and by 18.9% from a year earlier to MOP1,199.6 billion (USD150.3 billion). Within this total, external assets increased by 19.3% year-on-year to MOP899.5 billion while local assets in foreign currencies went up by 17.9% to MOP300.1 billion. As a major component of international assets, external interbank loans grew by 19.6% to MOP424.4 billion.

International Banking Liabilities

Total international liabilities increased by 1.5% from three months ago and by 19.6% year-on-year to MOP1,146.0 billion (USD143.6 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies expanded year-on-year by 35.9% to MOP672.7 billion and 2.2% to MOP473.3 billion respectively. Foreign currency deposits held by residents and the MSAR government in local banks continued to form a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 3.0% to MOP436.7 billion at end-September 2015 from MOP423.9 billion at end-September 2014.

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 2015, claims on Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China, and Singapore occupied 32.6%, 28.5% and 3.4% of total external assets correspondingly, while claims on Portugal, the United Kingdom and Germany took up 3.7%, 2.1% and 0.9% respectively. On external liabilities, Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China and Chinese Taiwan accounted for 42.2%, 26.0% and 4.8% of the total respectively while France, Portugal and Luxembourg took up respective shares of 1.5%, 1.1% and 0.6%.

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.