Banks in Macao remain resilient in international financial turbulence
Recently, several large investment banks and insurance companies in the United States have either filed for bankruptcy protection or sought acquisition or bailout from the government due to severe financial difficulties. Against such a backdrop, international financial markets have exhibited unusual volatility. However, Macao has remained resilient in such a turbulence.
In our banking sector, statistics and surveys indicate that a few individual banks have small holdings of financial assets and products related to the financial institutions affected by this crisis, and such holdings account for only an insignificant portion of the total assets. Therefore the direct impact caused by the crisis on the banking system of Macao is minimal. The last Asian Financial Crisis has geared banks in Macao to adopt in their operations and management a sound and prudent principle, stringent risk management processes and internal control system, which have resulted in outstanding performance over the past few years. In the meantime, the loan to deposit ratio, non-performing loan ratio and the capital adequacy ratio of the banks in Macao are 62.8%, 0.32% and 15.8% respectively, which indicate the industry’s sound liquidity, excellent asset quality and comfortable capital adequacy.
Due to the uncertainties of the global economic and financial scenario, this Authority and the banks will remain vigilant, and will further enhance the on-going monitoring, management and supervision of risks in order to safeguard the stability and integrity of the Macao banking system.
Monetary Authority of Macao