Fiscal reserve shows quarterly increase

Following the approval by the Legislative Assembly of the 2014 government budget balance, MOP90.29 billion was transferred to the region’s fiscal reserve during February 2016 in accordance with the prescribed law, the Monetary Authority of Macao announced in a statement yesterday.
At the end of March 2016, the total amount of the MSAR’s Fiscal Reserve recorded a quarterly increase of 26 percent to a preliminary figure of MOP436.01 billion. Of this, MOP132.82 billion constituted the Basic Reserve and MOP303.19 billion the Excess Reserve.
The Monetary Authority added that for the first quarter of this year, the total investment return of the Fiscal Reserve was MOP0.62 billion, representing an annualized rate of return of 0.6 percent. The investment was spread across four areas, three of which saw a positive return, while the fourth, equity markets, recorded a substantial loss.
For the first quarter of 2016, the currency exposure, fixed-income investment and interest income offered reasonable returns to the fiscal Reserve, whereas investments in equities reported a loss in revaluation due to the recent downturn of global equity markets. DB