According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector increased in the second quarter of 2015. At end-June 2015, the share of international assets in total banking assets advanced to 86.6% from 85.9% at end-March 2015, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities expanded to 83.0% from 81.1%. Non-local currencies continued to be the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-June 2015, the shares of the pataca in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.7% and 1.8% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar, US Dollar, the renminbi and other foreign currencies accounted for 37.7%, 33.6%, 21.8% and 6.1% of total international assets as well as 40.7%, 36.4%, 15.6% and 5.6% of total international liabilities respectively. International Banking Assets At end-June 2015, total international assets advanced by 13.7% from a quarter ago and by 15.6% from a year earlier to MOP1,177.6 billion (USD147.5 billion). Within this total, external assets increased by 13.5% year-on-year to MOP885.0 billion while local assets in foreign currencies jumped by 22.3% to MOP292.7 billion. As a major component of international assets, external interbank loans grew by 3.9% to MOP409.4 billion. International Banking Liabilities Total international liabilities increased by 15.3% from three months ago and by 16.6% year-on-year to MOP1,129.0 billion (USD141.4 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies expanded year-on-year by 27.8% to MOP644.9 billion and 4.4% to MOP484.1 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 5.1% to MOP446.7 billion at end-June 2015 from MOP425.0 billion at end-June 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-June 2015, claims on Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Singapore occupied 36.6%, 31.5% and 1.9% of total external assets correspondingly, while claims on Portugal, the United Kingdom and Germany took up 4.5%, 1.6% and 1.1% respectively. On external liabilities, Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China and Thailand accounted for 44.0%, 21.8% and 5.9% of the total respectively while France, Portugal and Germany took up respective shares of 2.0%, 1.7% and 1.1%. 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.
