Macau’s international banking assets rose 12.7 percent year-on-year to 1.71 trillion patacas at the end of last year, the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) announced today.
Among the international banking assets, external assets rose 14.9 percent year-on-year to 1.29 trillion patacas, while local assets in foreign currency rose 6.4 percent to 424 billion patacas. External nonbank loans increased 10.5 percent to 555 billion patacas.
Total international liabilities rose 14.1 percent year-on-year to 1.65 trillion patacas at the end of last year.
Among Macau’s international banking liabilities, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies increased 23.8 percent to 851 billion patacas and 5.3 percent to 802 billion patacas respectively.
At the end of last year, claims on mainland China and Hong Kong took up 35.8 percent and 30.5 percent of total external assets, while claims on Portugal and the UK accounted for 1.2 percent and 1.0 percent respectively. Claims on Portuguese-speaking countries and “Belt and Road” nations took up 1.6 percent and 6.7 percent respectively.
Concerning external liabilities, Hong Kong and mainland China accounted for 44.7 percent and 22.3 percent of the total respectively. Portuguese-speaking countries and “Belt and Road” nations took up 0.7 percent and 13.4 percent respectively.
Non-local currencies – HK and US dollars as well as the renminbi (RMB) in particular – continued to dominate Macau’s international banking transactions. At the end of last year, Macau’s pataca accounted for just 0.8 percent of the city’s total international assets and 0.6 percent of its total international liabilities.
The pataca is Macau’s sole legal tender, while the Hong Kong dollar is its customary tender.
