In the second half of 2021, the new small and medium enterprise (SME) credit limit approved by Macau banks totaled MOP12.1 billion, a drop of 37.5% from the first half of the year, according to statistics released Friday by the Monetary Authority of Macao.
During the same period, the outstanding balance of SME loans decreased 1.2% from end-June 2021 but increased 7.0% from a year earlier, to MOP93.4 billion.
Compared to the last survey period, outstanding SME loans in manufacturing industries rose 0.9% whereas those in wholesale and retail trade and construction and public works sectors dropped 3.3% and 1.7% respectively.
Since the start of the pandemic, the authorities have repeatedly amended annual public budgets, drawing on some MOP100 billion from the vast local financial reserves to compensate for increased expenses due to economic stimulus to counter the impact of the pandemic.
In response to the pandemic’s economic effects, the SAR government has launched the SME Bank Loan Interest Subsidy Scheme to provide interest subsidies to eligible SMEs that have obtained bank loans to combat the epidemic, subject to a ceiling of 4% and a loan ceiling of MOP2 million, for a maximum of three years. JW
