According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector retreated slightly in the third quarter of 2014. At end-September 2014, the share of international assets in total banking assets fell to 86.5% from 87.2% at end-June 2014, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities dropped to 82.1% from 82.8%.
Foreign currencies continued to be the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-September 2014, the shares of Pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.7% and 1.5% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 37.4% and 61.9% of total international assets as well as 43.2% and 55.3% of total international liabilities respectively.
International Banking Assets
At end-September 2014, total international assets fell marginally by 1.0% from a quarter ago but advanced by 24.0% from a year earlier to MOP1,008.7 billion (USD126.1 billion). Within this total, external assets increased by 18.5% year-on-year to MOP754.1 billion while local assets in foreign currencies jumped by 43.4% to MOP254.6 billion. As a major component of international assets, external interbank loans grew by 8.7% to MOP354.8 billion.
International Banking Liabilities
Total international liabilities decreased slightly by 1.1% from three months ago but increased by 23.2% year-on-year to MOP958.1 billion (USD119.8 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies expanded year-on-year by 24.9% to MOP495.0 billion and 21.4% to MOP463.0 billion respectively. Foreign currency deposits held by residents and the MSAR government continued to form a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 18.4% to MOP423.9 billion at end-September 2014 from MOP358.0 billion at end-September 2013.
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-September 2014, claims on Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore occupied 36.1%, 32.0% and 2.0% of total external assets correspondingly, while claims on Portugal, the United Kingdom and Germany took up 6.3%, 1.6% and 1.5% respectively. On external liabilities, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Thailand accounted for 47.1%, 20.5% and 8.7% of the total respectively while France, Portugal and Germany took up respective shares of 3.3%, 2.2% and 1.6%.
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.
