The proportion of international business in the local banking sector rebounded in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022, as revealed by Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) statistics. At end of December 2022, the share of international assets in total banking assets increased by 0.6% to 85.3% compared to the end of September 2022, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities fell by 0.5% to 81.9% in the same period, the AMCM stated in a statistical report.
According to the same report, the International Banking Assets at the end of December 2022 increased by 6.3% from the previous quarter (Q3) to MOP2,209.1 billion (USD275.1 billion).
Within this total, external assets rose by 2.5% from Q3 to MOP1,598.9 billion, while local assets in foreign currencies expanded by 17.9% to MOP610.2 billion.
As a major component of international assets, external non-bank loans decreased by 5.4% to MOP701.7 billion.
At the same time, the total international banking liabilities also increased by 4.9% from September to MOP2,120.9 billion (USD264.1 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies grew by 0.9% quarter-to-quarter to MOP1,201.6 billion and 10.8% to MOP919.3 billion respectively.
Foreign currency deposits held by residents and the Macau government in local banks constituted a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposit dropped by 0.3% to MOP667.2 billion at the end of 2022.
The majority of external assets and liabilities in the local banking sector were related to Asia with claims on the mainland and Hong Kong occupying, respectively, 40.4% and 24.9% of total external assets.
Claims on Portuguese-speaking countries and countries along the “Belt and Road” had shares of 0.8% and 12.4%, respectively.
As for external liabilities, Hong Kong and the mainland accounted for 41.0% and 38.2% of the total, respectively, while the Portuguese-speaking countries and countries along the “Belt and Road” represented 0.6% and 6.4%, respectively.
