Foreign currency deposits grow 30 percent in 2Q

2014/8/21

From:Macau Business Daily

International assets continued to dominate Macau’s banking system, reaching almost 90 percent of all banking assets.

International assets continue to grow within Macau’s banking system, especially transactions made in foreign currencies like yuan and Hong Kong dollars. According to the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM) the size of international assets in the banks here amounted to MOP1,019 billion (USD$127 billion) by the end of the second quarter. This represented an increase of 9.5 percent compared to the end of March, and a jump of 29.3 percent from a year ago.
Foreign assets dominate the majority of Macau’s banking system and continue to expand. In June, the share of international assets in total banking assets climbed to 87.2 percent, 0.4 points more than three months before (86.8 percent). On the liabilities side, foreign ones increased to 82.8 percent last quarter from 82.1 percent in March.
Foreign liabilities also increased 10 percent in the last quarter compared to the first three months of the year, and 32 percent from a year ago. Foreign currency deposits held by residents and the government here continued to form a major component of international liabilities. This kind of deposit increased by 29.1 percent to MOP425.0 billion in June from MOP329.3 billion a year ago.
AMCM also report that in international banking transactions, the transactions made in foreign currencies were dominant. The pataca only had a marginal presence of 0.8 percent in international assets and a mere 1.5 percent in international liabilities. The Hong Kong dollar occupied 35.7 percent, while other foreign currencies had a share of 63.6 percent.
Most of Macau’s banking assets and liabilities are linked to Asia and Europe. In June, 37.6 percent of international assets here were claims on Mainland China, followed by Hong Kong (29.6 percent) and Singapore (1.9 percent). Portugal, Luxembourg and Germany accounted for 7.3 percent, 1.5 percent and 1 percent, respectively. For liabilities, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Thailand accounted for 39.9 percent, 25.1 percent and 8.4 percent of the total, respectively. France, Portugal and Germany reported shares of 3.6 percent, 3.4 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

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