Macao banks' lending to SMEs up 55.1 pct in H2 of 2011

MACAO, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- New SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) credit limit approved by Macao banks in the second half of 2011 increased by 55.1 percent over the first half year to 16.9 billion patacas (2.1 billion U.S. dollars), according to figures released Monday by the Monetary Authority of Macao.

The figures showed that new SME credit limit approved in the second half year of 2011 was 98.2 percent up from the same period last year.

The collateralized ratio, which is part of the credit limit with tangible assets pledged, stood at 60.7 percent in the period, up by 7 percentage points compared with the first half of 2011 but down by 3.1 percentage points when compared with the same period of 2010, according to the figures.

The outstanding value of total SME loans reached 33.6 billion patacas (4.2 billion dollars), with loans to sectors of "restaurants, hotels and similar activities," "transport, warehouse and communications," "non-monetary financial institutions" and "construction and public works" increasing at respective rates of 34.8 percent, 23.6 percent, 17 percent and 16.7 percent.

As for delinquent loans, the outstanding balance of SME delinquent loans at the end of December 2011 increased by 19.8 percent from six months earlier to 515.2 million patacas (64.5 million dollars), resulting in a delinquency ratio of 0.13 percent, according to the Monetary Authority.