Briefs | Foreign reserves slip in March

The Monetary Authority of Macau has announced that the preliminary estimate of Macau’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP152.5 billion (USD19.09 billion) at the end of March. This means that the reserves were down by 0.5 percent from the revised value of MOP153.2 billion (USD19.13 billion) for the previous month. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-March 2016 represented 12 times the currency in circulation. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the MOP dropped 0.48 points month-to-month in March, but rose 0.74 points compared with March in the previous year. Overall, this means that the MOP depreciated against the currencies of Macau’s major trading partners on a monthly basis, but appreciated on an annual basis.

Cameras removed from female changing room

The Director of Macau Sports Bureau (ID), Pun Weng Kun, advised that the department has already removed the camera from the female changing rooms of Piscina Estoril, TDM reported. According to Pun, the department took action immediately after listening to the suggestions from the Officer for Personal Data Protection (GPDP). Pun noted that ID took over several exercise facilities from the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) earlier this year, and that the cameras in the pool had been installed prior to the transfer. It is believed that the cameras were installed for security reasons. Pun claimed that “relevant images were never sent to the monitoring room, and they will be recorded over.”

Woman detained for carrying 18,000 stamps

Gongbei customs detained a female passenger who was carrying 18,000 “Lunar Year of the Monkey” stamps, TDM reported. According to Gongbei customs, the stamps were hidden in the stroller she was pushing, as well as in her backpack. The items were worth over RMB60,000. The woman claimed that the stamps were intended for her friends. The Gongbei customs reminded all passengers that it is only acceptable to bring a limited number of stamps through customs. Moreover, any stamps, post cards, envelopes, or postal packages, which have been issued before 1949, are not allowed to cross the border. Furthermore, any such items before that date that contain forbidden content are not allowed in mainland China.