The new approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) fell, whereas those of commercial real estate loans (CRELs) rose month-on-month in February, the special administrative region’s monetary watchdog said yesterday. According to statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the new RMLs approved by Macau banks in February fell 15.5% month-on-month to 1.22 billion patacas. The new RMLs to residents, representing 96.3% of the total, decreased by 15.2% to 1.18 billion patacas. The non-resident component also dropped to 45.79 million patacas. The new CRELs increased 59.6% month-to-month to 1.56 billion patacas.
