According to statistics released today (14 August) by the Monetary Authority of Macao, newly approved small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) credit noted a year-on-year decrement in the first half of 2026.  While the outstanding balance of SME loans dropped, the share of SME loans to major industries remained stable.

New lending approved

In the first half of 2026, new SME credit limit approved by Macao banks totalled MOP4.5 billion, down 8.6% from a year ago.  The collateralised ratio, which indicates the proportion of credit limit with tangible assets pledged, marked 45.0%.

Credit utilisation

As at end-June 2026, the outstanding balance of SME loans declined by 13.4% from a year earlier to MOP65.0 billion, mainly attributable to the repayment of loans. Analysed by economic sector, outstanding SME loans to “education” and “wholesale and retail” increased by 4.3% and 2.2% respectively whereas those to “restaurants, hotels and similar activities” and “construction” decreased by 14.0% and 13.2% respectively.

The utilisation rate, defined as the proportion of outstanding credit balance to the credit limit granted, dropped by 0.8 percentage points from a year ago to 84.1%. 

Delinquent loans

As at end-June 2026, the outstanding balance of delinquent SME loans contracted by 2.5% year-on-year to MOP5.5 billion. Nevertheless, due to a larger decrement in the total outstanding balance of SME loans, the delinquency ratio increased to 8.5%.

The Monetary Authority of Macao encourages banks to negotiate flexible repayment plans with SMEs, under the principle of prudent risk management and their own credit policies, to continue providing credit support to customers with liquidity difficulties.

Detailed figures are available on:

https://www.amcm.gov.mo/en/research-statistics/statistics-page/official-statistics-summary-page