Briefs | Foreign reserves up in June

The Monetary Authority of Macao announced yesterday that the preliminary estimate of the MSAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP151.3 billion at the end of June 2016. The reserves were up by 0.6 percent from the revised figure of MOP150.4 billion for the previous month. The foreign exchange reserves at the end of last month represented 12 times the currency in circulation. Meanwhile the trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the MOP rose by 0.15 points month-to-month and 1.52 points year-on-year to 105.51 in June 2016, implying that overall, the MOP appreciated against the currencies of Macau’s major trading partners.

Nanny association aims to promote infant care

The Macao Nanny Association has recently been inaugurated, according to a report by Macao Daily News. The association expects to offer a communication platform for all nannies in the city, as well to provide professional training courses. It will hire nutritionists, Chinese medicine doctors and professional nannies with significant experience to be consultants within the organization. The association claims that as technology and the internet develops, the online dissemination of information about infant care cannot be trusted. According to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), 7,055 babies were born in 2015, while in 2014 that number was 7,360.

Thirty 24-hour mail collecting boxes to be available from August

Starting from August, local company Sposter will launch a service of 30 mail collection boxes in Macau.  All boxes are expected to be in operation within the current year. Sposter will provide a 24-hour service, as opposed to the inconvenient mail pickup from mail collectors. Currently, a few people work as couriers in both Zhuhai and Macau, collecting packages for people who are living in Macau and have placed orders from mainland shopping websites. For the package owners, picking up their belongings from collectors causes troubles and requires some time to do it.  The company claims that Sposter will make the pickup more convenient.