Macao banks' int'l business share rebounds in Q1

MACAO - The proportion of international business in Macao's local banking sector rebounded in the first quarter of 2021, the special administrative region's (SAR) monetary watchdog said here on Tuesday.

According to statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the share of international assets in total banking assets increased to 85.5 percent at the end of March 2021 from 85.1 percent at the end of December 2020, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities rose to 82.6 percent from 82.3 percent.

Non-local currencies continued to be the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At the end of March 2021, both the shares of the pataca in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.6 percent.

The Hong Kong dollar, the US dollar, the renminbi and other currencies accounted for 33.2 percent, 44.7 percent, 16.8 percent and 4.7 percent of total international assets respectively, while their respective shares in total international liabilities were 40.7 percent, 40.8 percent, 13.8 percent and 4.1 percent.

At the end of March 2021, total international assets increased by 5.9 percent from a quarter ago and by 10.0 percent from a year earlier to 2,001.4 billion patacas (about $249.9 billion).

Total international liabilities increased by 5.7 percent from three months ago and by 10.1 percent year on year to 1,932.3 billion patacas (about $241.3 billion).

The majority of external assets and liabilities were related to Asia and Europe. At the end of March 2021, claims on the mainland and the Hong Kong SAR occupied 42.8 percent and 26.6 percent of total external assets respectively, while claims on Portugal and Germany took up 1.0 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

On external liabilities, the Hong Kong SAR and the mainland accounted for 39.5 percent and 32.8 percent of the total respectively, while Britain and France took up 5.3 percent and 4.7 percent respectively.