International Banking Statistics, June 2009

According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the portion of international business in the local banking sector remained large. At end-June 2009, the share of international assets in total banking assets edged up to 82.9% from 82.7% at end-March 2009, while the share of international liabilities in total liabilities increased to 77.6% from 76.7%. Foreign currencies remained as the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-June 2009, the shares of pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.5% and 2.5% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 48.2% and 51.3% of total international assets respectively. On international liabilities, HKD had a share of 52.6% while OFCs accounted for 44.9%. International Banking Assets
At end-June 2009, total international assets increased 7.5% quarter-to-quarter and 5.5% year-on-year to MOP334.0 billion (USD41.8 billion). Within this total, external assets rose year-on-year by 4.2% to MOP253.9 billion while local assets in foreign currencies grew 9.8% to MOP80.1 billion. As a major component of international assets, other external assets jumped 21.7% over a year earlier to MOP158.2 billion mainly attributed to the expansion in placements of Macao banks with their overseas affiliates. International Banking Liabilities
Meanwhile, total international liabilities increased by 8.4% quarter-to-quarter and 5.1% year-on-year to MOP312.5 billion (USD39.2 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies amounted to MOP153.4 billion and MOP159.1 billion respectively. Compared with a year earlier, the former dropped by 1.1% while the latter rose 11.9%. Foreign currency deposits held by residents in the local banking system formed a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 11.2% to MOP150.4 billion from MOP135.2 billion at end-June 2008. 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-June 2009, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied respectively 36.5% and 6.1% of total external assets, while claims on Portugal, UK and France took up respective shares of 15.8%, 3.0% and 2.7%. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and China occupied 43.6% and 15.3% of the total while France, Portugal and Germany took up respective shares of 12.5%, 7.2% and 2.1%. The compilation of International Banking Statistics follows the methodology advocated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in order to facilitate Macao SAR’s participation in the “Locational International Banking Statistics” project of the BIS.