MACAO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- New SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) credit limit approved by Macao banks in the first six months of 2012 dropped by 58.8 percent over the second half of last year to seven billion patacas (880 million U.S. dollars), according to figures released Friday by the Monetary Authority of Macao.

The figures showed that New SME credit limit approved in the first half year of 2012 was 36.1 percent up on the same period last year.

The collateralized ratio, which is part of the credit limit with tangible assets pledged, was 60.4 percent in the period, decreasing by 0.3 percentage points compared with the second half of last year but up by 6.7 percentage points when compared with the same period of 2011, according to the figures.

The outstanding value of total SME loans dropped 7.3 percent from the end of December 2011 but up 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 31.2 billion patacas (3.91 billion dollars). When compared with the end of December 2011, SME loans to "electricity, gas and water" and "education" increased at respective rates of 92.0 percent and 44.2 percent, whereas those to "transport, warehouse and communications", "non-monetary financial institutions" and "wholesale and retail trade" dropped 72.5 percent, 19.0 percent and 18.6 percent respectively.

As for delinquent loans, the outstanding balance of SME delinquent loans at the end of June 2012 dropped by 16.8 percent from six months earlier to 428.5 million patacas (53.65 million dollars), resulting in a delinquency ratio of 1.37 percent, according to the Monetary Authority. Enditem

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