According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new SME lending approved by Macao banks continued to grow in the second half of 2014. Concurrently, the utilisation of SME credit in proportion to the credit limit approved by banks rose when compared with the previous survey period. New lending approved In the second half of 2014, new SME credit limit approved by Macao banks totalled MOP25.4 billion, up by 9.4% from the first half year of 2014 or 55.8% from the same period last year. The collateralised ratio, which indicates the proportion of credit limit with tangible assets pledged, was 82.1%, up 6.8 percentage points when compared with the last survey period or 4.4 percentage points when compared with the same period of 2013. Credit utilisation As at end-December 2014, the outstanding value of total SME loans increased 15.1% from end-June 2014 or 48.4% from a year earlier to MOP60.0 billion. When compared with end-June 2014, SME loans to "non-monetary financial institutions", "restaurants, hotels and similar activities" and "wholesale and retail trade" increased at respective rates of 143.1%, 10.4% and 8.9%, whereas those to "electricity, gas and water", "education" and "manufacturing" dropped 43.0%, 18.0% and 12.6% respectively. The utilisation rate, defined as the proportion of outstanding credit balance to the credit limit granted, rose 2.3 percentage points from six months ago to 66.7%. Delinquent loans At the end of 2014, the outstanding balance of delinquent SME loans decreased by 7.9% from six months ago to MOP131.1 million. Compared to a year ago, the balance dropped 9.2%. The delinquency ratio, a ratio of delinquent loans outstanding balance to total SME loans outstanding, dropped 0.05 percentage points from end-June 2014 or 0.14 percentage points from a year earlier to 0.22%.
