According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector dropped in the final quarter of 2015. At end-2015, the share of international assets in total banking assets fell to 84.9% from 86.1% at end-September 2015, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities declined to 80.4% from 82.3%.

Non-local currencies continued to be the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-2015, the shares of the pataca in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.7% and 1.7% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar, US Dollar, the renminbi and other foreign currencies accounted for 41.8%, 36.8%, 14.6% and 6.1% of total international assets as well as 45.3%, 36.1%, 12.3% and 4.6% of total international liabilities respectively.

International Banking Assets

At end-2015, total international assets dropped by 5.1% from a quarter ago but increased by 12.8% from a year earlier to MOP1,138.7 billion (USD142.6 billion). Within this total, external assets increased by 12.2% year-on-year to MOP841.6 billion while local assets in foreign currencies went up by 14.3% to MOP297.2 billion. As a major component of international assets, external interbank loans grew by 12.0% to MOP385.8 billion.

International Banking Liabilities

Total international liabilities decreased by 5.9% from three months ago but advanced by 12.6% year-on-year to MOP1,078.6 billion (USD135.1 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies expanded year-on-year by 23.9% to MOP612.8 billion and 0.5% to MOP465.8 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 dropped slightly by 0.9% to MOP422.0 billion at end-2015 from MOP425.8 billion at end-2014.

Breakdown of External Banking Assets and Liabilities by Region

The majority of external assets and liabilities were related to Asia and Europe. At end-2015, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied 38.2% and 23.1% of total external assets, while claims on Portugal and the United Kingdom took up 3.5% and 2.4% respectively. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and Mainland China accounted for 45.2% and 21.7% of the total respectively while France and Portugal took up 1.2% and 0.8% respectively. Portuguese-speaking countries represented 3.6% and 1.1% of total external assets and liabilities respectively.

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.