According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector dropped slightly in the fourth quarter of 2012. At end-2012, the share of international assets in total banking assets fell to 83.4% from 83.7% at end-September 2012, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities decreased to 79.9% from 80.7%. Foreign currencies were the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-2012, the shares of Pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.5% and 3.2% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 41.0% and 58.5% of total international assets as well as 51.0% and 45.8% of total international liabilities respectively. International Banking Assets
At end-2012, total international assets advanced by 3.3% from a quarter ago or 19.1% from a year earlier to MOP664.1 billion (USD83.2 billion). Within this total, external assets increased by 22.4% year-on-year to MOP517.7 billion while local assets in foreign currencies also expanded by 8.5% to MOP146.4 billion. As a major component of international assets, external loans & deposits went up by 22.1% to MOP480.0 billion. In particular, cross-border non-bank loans grew by 35.0%. International Banking Liabilities
Total international liabilities increased by 2.7% from three months ago or 21.3% year-on-year to MOP636.0 billion (USD79.7 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies grew year-on-year by 11.6% to MOP312.1 billion and 32.3% to MOP323.9 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 31.5% to MOP304.2 billion at end-2012 from MOP231.2 billion at end-2011. Concurrently, overseas non-bank deposits expanded by 38.0%. 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-2012, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied 37.9% and 24.3% of total external assets correspondingly, while claims on Portugal and Luxembourg took up 10.4% and 2.4% respectively. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and Mainland China accounted for 50.3% and 18.1% of the total respectively while France and Portugal took up respective shares of 5.4% and 3.8%. 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. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao
(Tel：83952532; Fax：28353042)
