*********************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published today (May 15) the credit card lending survey results for the first quarter of 2014.
Total card receivables reduced by 6.7% to HK$110.1 billion in the first quarter this year, after increasing by 9.5% in the previous quarter as a result of festive spending around the year end and the payment of salaries tax using credit cards. The total number of credit card accounts maintained at around 16.7 million.
The rollover amount, which reflects the amount of borrowing by customers using their credit cards, slightly decreased by 1.2% during the quarter to HK$18.4 billion. However, the rollover ratio rose from 15.8% to 16.7% in the same period due to a sharper decline in total card receivables.
The charge-off amount slightly increased from HK$522 million in the previous quarter to HK$528 million in the first quarter of 2014, while the quarterly charge-off ratio remained at 0.46%.
The amount of rescheduled receivables transferred outside the surveyed institutions' credit card portfolios marginally increased to HK$109 million from HK$108 million in the previous quarter.
The delinquent amount was maintained at HK$239 million at end-March 2014. However, the delinquency ratio rose slightly to 0.22% from 0.20% at end-December 2013 because of a sharper decline in total card receivables. The combined delinquent and rescheduled ratio (after taking into account the transfer of rescheduled receivables mentioned above) also edged up to 0.28% from 0.27% at end-December 2013.
Ends/Thursday, May 15, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:30
NNNN