According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new SME lending approved by Macao banks increased at a fast pace in the second half of 2009. Concurrently, the utilisation of SME credit in proportion to the credit limit approved by banks witnessed a slight decline. New Lending Approved In the second half of 2009, new SME credit limit approved by Macao banks totaled MOP8.9 billion, 43.7% up on the first half of 2009 or 72.0% up on the same period last year. The collateralised ratio, which indicates the proportion of credit limit with tangible assets pledged, reached 64.4%, up 25.1 percentage points when compared with the first half of 2009 or up 3.1 percentage points when compared with the same period of the preceding year. Credit Utilisation As at end-December 2009, the outstanding value of total SME loans reached MOP20.7 billion, which represented a growth of 5.7% from end-June 2009 or 4.2% from a year earlier. When compared with end-June 2009, SME loans to sectors of “construction and public works”, “restaurants, hotels and similar activities” and “wholesale and retail trade” increased at respective rates of 17.0%, 10.6% and 5.0%, whereas those to “manufacturing” dropped 24.6%. These sectors accounted for 75.0% of the total SME loans outstanding. The utilisation rate, defined as the proportion of outstanding credit balance to the credit limit granted, declined 0.4 percentage points from six months ago to 60.7% . Delinquent Loans At the end of December 2009, the outstanding balance of delinquent SME loans grew by 17.8% from six months ago to MOP510 million. Compared to a year ago, the balance grew by 19.0%. The delinquency ratio, a ratio of delinquent loans outstanding balance to total SME loans outstanding, rose 0.25 percentage points from end-June 2009 or 0.31 percentage points from a year ago to 2.47%.
