MACAO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Macao's banking industry has seen another record year in 2006 mainly due to the region's high economic growth, a financial official said in Macao on Thursday.

Anselmo Teng, president of the Monetary Authority, said while addressing a cocktail reception here that the banking industry in 2006 continued with the enhancement of risk management and strived to diversify its range of financial products.

The official disclosed that the total asset of the banking sector jumped 26.5 percent to 273.8 billion patacas (34.23 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2006.

Deposits increased by 24.2 percent to 229.9 billion patacas (28.8 billion dollars) at the end of the year, Teng said.

The overall annual profit rocketed 30.1 percent to 3.96 billion patacas (495 million dollars) in 2006, said the official.

The region has seen for years the two-digit annual GDP growth since it returned to the motherland in 1999.