The Philippine Consulate General will hold its 30th repatriation flight tomorrow, departing the city at about 9 a.m., the Times has been told. Tickets for the two-hour flight have cost Filipino nationals some MOP2,250. The Philippine government has repatriated a total of 5,761 Filipinos as of March. Up to now, no flights have been operating to the Philippines due to strict border and entry measures in place in the SAR. The country’s Department of Foreign Ministry (DFA) has previously said in a statement that it will continue to hold repatriation flights until the Macau government has declared it safe to allow international commercial flights to operate again.
Gov’t warns bank users to be vigilant of scams
The Monetary Authority of Macao (AACM) is reminding the public to be wary of false text messages that claim to be from banks in order to avoid scams and unnecessary losses. The bureau reminds that financial institutions will not ask customers to provide personal information (including login passwords and one-time passwords) through phone calls, emails and SMS, and will not direct customers to their websites by SMS or email hyperlinks. Anyone who has provided their personal data or conducted any transactions through the above forms should contact the Judiciary Police as soon as possible.
Import of Brazilian frozen meat products suspended
The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has ordered a re-test of some imported frozen meat products from Brazil after Beijing announced that samples from the packaging had tested positive for Covid-19. Local businesses have been requested to immediately seal the products sourced from the relevant manufacturers. Moreover, samples have been collected again for re-testing and no abnormalities have been found in the results. Meanwhile, IAM has immediately suspended the import applications of the products of the manufacturers involved.
Funding costs of banking sector increase
At end-March 2022, the composite interest rates for MOP and HKD rose 2 basis points and 6 basis points, from 0.48% and 0.81% at end-December 2021 to 0.50% and 0.87%, respectively, according to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao (AACM). Macau’s composite interest rates are the weighted average interest rates of all interest-bearing liabilities and non-interest-bearing demand deposits on local banks’ books. These statistical indicators enable the financial sector to closely track movements in domestic funding costs.
