Macao\'s lending to private sector grows 2.4 %

Macao\'s domestic loans to local private sector in September increased by 2.4 percent month-on-month to an equivalent of 164.9 billion patacas (20.61 billion U.S. dollars), according to the figures released on Wednesday by the Monetary Authority of Macao. The figures also indicated that 25.1 percent of the domestic loans was pataca-denominated, while 65.6 percent was denominated in Hong Kong dollar. Meanwhile, external loans decreased by 3.8 percent month-on-month to 147.8 billion patacas (18.47 billion U.S. dollars), of which loans denominated in pataca and HKD accounted for 0.3 percent and 34 percent, respectively. As domestic loans to the private sector increased while resident deposits dropped, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at the end of September increased by 1.2 percentage points month-on-month to 55.6 percent. Enditem