Briefs | Inflation at 1.3pct in August

The Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, increased by 1.36 percent year-on-year in August to 109.57, the Statistics and Census Service said yesterday. The rise is the highest year-on-year growth since January 2017, and is attributed to rising tuition fees, higher costs for eating out and outpatient services, as well as increased prices in adults’ footwear and gasoline. Among the various categories of goods and services, the price indexes of education and health grew by 7.5 percent and 5.3 percent respectively year-on-year, while the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounted for the largest share of household expenditure, increased 1.84 percent year-on-year. The Composite CPI in August increased by 0.09 percent compared with July due to package tour prices and airfares during the summer holidays. Meanwhile, for the year ending August 2017, the average Composite CPI grew by 1.16 percent compared to the previous 12-month period.

Deutsche Bank: Golden Week busiest in 4 years

Deutsche Bank has predicted that next month’s Golden Week will be the busiest holiday period in four years for Macau. In a report, the financial firm recognized that the gross gaming revenue (GGR) for September is likely to be dampened by the impact of last month’s Typhoon Hato which led to a decline in the number of tourists to the city. In August, the GGR stood more than 20 percent higher than a year ago, at about MOP22.67 billion. Deutsche Bank advised that Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment Group may benefit this month from the position of some their resorts in Cotai. It also reiterated its position that Wynn Macau and MGM China are “Buy” investments.

First Applied Physics PhD student graduates from UM

Yao Lingmin has become the first student at the University of Macau (UM) to graduate with a PhD from the Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, according to statement released yesterday by the education institution. Following her graduation, Yao has been offered a position as an assistant professor at Guangzhou University. Yao’s thesis, titled “Novel Design of Highly Oriented Titanate-Based Nanorod Array and its Application in Nanocomposite Capacitors,” deals with the synthesis of composites for capacitors. She was successful in designing a new structure, the barium titanate-based nanorod array. While at the UM, Yao published two papers in SCI-indexed journals.

Casino shuttles won’t be moved underground

The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, yesterday ruled out the possibility of relocating casino shuttle buses to the underground bus terminal at the Border Gate. The Secretary said he had studied the idea and found it impractical. The idea was floated by upset residents in response to the current public bus arrangement. The bus terminal will remain closed until 2019, while it undergoes renovation. In the meantime, the current arrangement of some 24 routes being distributed across 10 nearby bus stops is expected to continue. In a phone-in radio show hosted by public broadcaster TDM, newly-elected lawmaker Agnes Lam sided with the disappointed residents and said that, at a minimum, the space currently used for casino shuttle buses should be shared with public buses.