Outstanding balance of loans rises

Approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) decreased slightly in October from the previous month, while those of commercial real estate loans (CRELs) rose, according to data released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macao. Both RMLs and CRELs witnessed monthly increases with regards to the outstanding balance.

As of the end of October, the outstanding value of RMLs was MOP188.6 billion, up 0.2 percent from a month earlier or 5.6 percent from a year ago. The outstanding value of CRELs was MOP176.1 billion, up 1.5 percent month-to-month or 2.7 percent year-on-year.

During the month of October, new RMLs approved by Macau banks decreased slightly by 0.2 percent month-to-month to MOP2.8 billion, of which new RMLs to residents accounted for 97 percent of the total, decreased by 1.2 percent to MOP2.7 billion. In contrast, the non-resident component rose by 45 percent to MOP84.4 million.

When compared with the same month in the previous year, October approvals of RMLs fell by 2.2 percent.

Meanwhile, newly- approved CRELs rose by 3.4 percent month-to-month in October to MOP4.6 billion, of which the resident component accounted for 97.3 percent of the total, increasing 0.7 percent to MOP4.4 billion. On an annual basis, new approvals of CRELs decreased by 26.5 percent.

The delinquency rate for RMLs stood at 0.18 percent in October, virtually unchanged from the previous month, but up by 0.03 percentage points compared to a year earlier.