Macao banks held assets abroad worth MOP1.7 trillion (about US$214.1 billion) at the end of last year, 2.4 per cent more than three months earlier, and held 1.6 percent of those assets in Portuguese-speaking parts of the world, just a little more than three months earlier, the Monetary Authority of Macao says.

Figures given by the authority indicate that 1.2 percent of the assets held abroad by Macao banks at the end of the year were held in Portugal, the same as three months earlier.

The value of the liabilities abroad of Macao banks was MOP1.65 trillion at the end of last year, 2.8 percent more than three months earlier, and  liabilities in lusophone countries made up 0.7 percent, the Monetary Authority of Macao says.