According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new SME lending approved by Macao banks grew significantly in the second half of 2011. Concurrently, the utilisation of SME credit in proportion to the credit limit approved by banks witnessed a slight decrease.

New Lending Approved

In the second half of 2011, new SME credit limit approved by Macao banks totalled MOP16.9 billion, up by 55.1% from the first half year or 98.2% from the same period of 2010. The collateralised ratio, which indicates the proportion of credit limit with tangible assets pledged, was 60.7%, up 7.0 percentage points when compared with the last survey period but down by 3.1 percentage points when compared with the same period of 2010.

Credit Utilisation

As at end-December 2011, the outstanding value of total SME loans grew 9.8% from end-June or 34.9% from a year earlier to MOP33.6 billion. When compared with end-June 2011, SME loans to “restaurants, hotels and similar activities”, “transport, warehouse and communications”, “non-monetary financial institutions” and “construction and public works” increased at respective rates of 34.8%, 23.6%, 17.0% and 16.7%, whereas those to “information technology” dropped 8.6%.

The utilisation rate, defined as the proportion of outstanding credit balance to the credit limit granted, dropped slightly by 0.6 percentage points from six months ago to 59.7%.

Delinquent Loans

At the end of December 2011, the outstanding balance of delinquent SME loans increased by 19.8% from six months ago to MOP515.2 million. Compared to a year ago, the balance dropped by 2.1%. Consequently, the delinquency ratio, a ratio of delinquent loans outstanding balance to total SME loans outstanding, rose 0.13 percentage points from end-June 2011 but dropped 0.58 percentage points from a year earlier to 1.53%.

For enquiry, please contact:

Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao

(Tel：83952532; Fax：28353042)