*********************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (November 21) the results of its survey on credit card lending for the third quarter of 2008.
Total card receivables increased by 0.8% (or HK$0.6 billion) in the third quarter, after rising 1.6% in the previous quarter. The transfer of rescheduled receivables outside the surveyed institutions' credit card portfolios during the quarter dropped to HK$144 million from HK$153 million in the second quarter. The total number of credit card accounts increased by 1.0%.
The rollover amount, which reflects the amount of borrowing by customers using their credit cards, rose to HK$23.9 billion from HK$23.7 billion as at the end of June.
The charge-off amount declined in the third quarter to HK$505 million, or 0.69% of average receivables, from HK$506 million in the previous quarter. The quarterly annualised* charge-off ratio dropped to 2.74% from 2.78% in the previous quarter.
The delinquent amount declined to HK$227 million at the end of September compared with HK$232 million at the end of the previous quarter. The delinquency ratio declined to a record low of 0.31%. The combined delinquent and rescheduled ratio (after taking into account the transfer mentioned above) declined to a record low of 0.38%** at the end of September.
* This assumes the quarterly rate of charge-off is maintained for the next three quarters.
**Not the sum of the delinquency ratio and the rescheduled ratio due to rounding.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1802
Ends/Friday, November 21, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:16
NNNN
