As per the end of April this year, aggregate assets of Macao banking system stood at MOP732.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.3%; total loans stood at MOP355.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.8%; total deposits were valued at MOP476.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 26.2%. Non-performing loan ratio was only 0.32%; capital adequacy ratio reached 15.1%, composed mainly of tier one capital.
We also find ourselves somewhat stuck with recycling a large part of our savings through the developed markets back into the region in a much more volatile form, occasionally creating havoc in our monetary and financial systems.1 The challenge for Asia then, according to its own financial leaders, is to develop a financial system which can allocate local savings to local needs more directly, can be resilient to the risks associated with international capital flows, and be somewhat less dependent on banks as a funding channel.