According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending approved by Macao banks rebounded in the second half of 2015. Concurrently, the utilisation of SME credit in proportion to the credit limit approved by banks dropped when compared with the previous survey period. New lending approved In the second half of 2015, new SME credit limit approved by Macao banks totalled MOP20.6 billion, up by 14.5% from the first half year but down 17.9% from the same period last year. The collateralised ratio, which indicates the proportion of credit limit with tangible assets pledged, was 83.7%, up 5.2 percentage points when compared with the last survey period or 1.7 percentage points when compared with the same period of 2014. Credit utilisation As at end-December 2015, the outstanding value of total SME loans increased 2.3% from end-June 2015 or 11.3% from a year earlier to MOP66.7 billion. When compared with end-June 2015, SME loans to “non-monetary financial institutions”, “restaurants, hotels and similar activities” and “construction and public works” increased at respective rates of 51.5%, 14.7% and 11.4%, whereas those to “wholesale and retail trade” and “manufacturing” dropped 18.0% and 10.0% respectively. The utilisation rate, defined as the proportion of outstanding credit balance to the credit limit granted, dropped 3.5 percentage points from six months ago to 61.2%. Delinquent loans At end-2015, the outstanding balance of delinquent SME loans increased by 87.0% from six months ago to MOP366.2 million. Compared to a year ago, the balance grew 168.5%. The delinquency ratio, a ratio of delinquent loans outstanding balance to total SME loans outstanding, rose 0.25 percentage points from end-June 2015 or 0.32 percentage points from a year earlier to 0.55%.
