Investment by Macau residents in securities issued by non-residents reached MOP484.7 billion at the end of 2016

At the end of last year, investment by Macau residents in securities issued by non-residents – excluding MSAR’s foreign exchange reserves – amounted to MOP484.7 billion (US$60.34 billion), an increase of 10.5 per cent year-on-year, according to the Co-ordinated Portfolio Investment Survey 2016, published yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM).
This represented an average of MOP752,000 for every local resident, with long-term debt securities representing the largest portion of the external investment portfolio, at 59 per cent of the external portfolio investment, seeing a 15.6 year-on-year increase from 2015 to MOP285.9 billion.
Meanwhile equity securities at the end of 2016 reached MOP183.9 million, going up 8.2 per cent yearly, while short-term debt securities saw a considerable 30.4 per cent year-on-year drop reaching MOP14.9 billion.
Asia continued to constitute the largest share of Macau residents’ external portfolio investment, comprising 56.6 per cent, followed by the North Atlantic and the Caribbean with 15 per cent, Europe with 12.3 per cent, and North America and Oceania with 10.4 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively.
Investment in the North Atlantic and Caribbean region grew by 36 per cent yearly to MOP72.6 billion, with the market value of portfolio investment in the Cayman Islands – known for offshore activity – seeing a year-on-year 21.1 per cent hike, to MOP32.8 billion.