Non-residents continue to be the best clients for Macau banks as their deposits are rising three times faster than the ones by local clients. According to data released from the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM), deposits from non-residents amounted to MOP238.4 billion (US$29.56 billion) in April, a 17.7 per cent increase from a year ago. The growth was three times bigger than deposits by local residents. These totalled MOP480.9 billion in April, a hike of 5.6 per cent compared to a year ago. In sequential terms, however, the trend was reversed: residents’ deposits grew 3.2 per cent and non-residents stayed almost flat – an increase of 0.8 per cent. Public sector deposits also rose in April, going up 2.9 per cent from a year ago and 5.4 per cent from March. Almost half of all deposits in Macau banks are denominated in Hong Kong dollars (41.9 per cent) followed by US dollars (21.2 per cent) and patacas (19.2 per cent). AMCM noted that the deposit rally made latter increases at a faster pace than total loans putting the overall loan-to-deposit ratio of the banking sector down from a month earlier. The smaller the ratio, the better. The loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-April dropped 1.5 percentage points from the previous month to 59.6 per cent. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors also declined 1.5 percentage points to 85.3 per cent. A reading below 100 per cent means that the bank is getting more in deposits than it is giving in loans. Currency in circulation grew 0.6 per cent whilst demand deposits dropped 0.7 per cent, AMCM said. L.G.
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