Briefs | Young musicians competition opens applications

Applications for the 35th Macau Young Musicians Competition are now open until March 26 at 7 p.m., with interested parties invited to complete the online registration and submit the relevant documents and fee before then. The competition, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), will be held between July 22 and August 3 at designated venues in Macau. This year, in order to facilitate applications, online registration has been opened to the public and payment and document submission can be arranged soon after. Applicants can receive assistance for the online registration from staff at the IC’s building, if necessary.

Inflation slows from January increase

The Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, increased by 0.37 percent year-on-year in February to 108.79, according to information released yesterday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). The bureau accredited the rise to the expenses of eating out, higher rentals for parking spaces, rising prices of gasoline and motor cars, as well as increases in tuition fees and out-patient service charges. Nevertheless, DSEC notes that the year-on-year growth last month eased significantly from the 1.76 percent year-on-year rise observed in January. On a monthly basis, the Composite CPI decreased by 0.42 percent month-by-month, led by declines in the prices indexes of cultural activities and clothing and footwear, which fell be 9.74 percent and 1.84 percent respectively. For the 12-month period ending February 2017, the average Composite CPI rose by 1.91 percent from the previous comparable period.

Fiscal Reserve grows 27 percent in 2016

As of the end of 2016, total assets of the MSAR Fiscal Reserve stood at approximately  MOP438.7 billion, comprising MOP132.8 billion of Basic Reserve and MOP305.9 billion of Excess Reserve. According to information released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMM), the Fiscal Reserve recorded a total investment income of MOP3.31 billion for 2016.  The income represented an annual return of 0.8 percent in 2016, a slight increase compare to the 0.7 percent of 2015.  The size of the Fiscal Reserve grew 27 percent over the year. AMM stressed that in 2016, asset allocation of the Fiscal Reserve included “global bonds of high credit quality (with low default risk), equities of medium and large scale enterprises (with relatively small business operation risk) and money market instruments from institutions with high liquidity and creditworthiness (with low deposit default risk).”  For the year 2016, the annual investment income for the Fiscal Reserve totaled MOP3.31 billion, equivalent to an annual return of 0.8 percent.

Applications to import Brazilian meat suspended

The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau  announced yesterday it has suspended the treatment of applications to import meat from Brazil after producers in the South American country become embroiled in a tainted-meat scandal. China, the largest importer of Brazil chicken and beef, has temporarily suspended shipments from Brazil, while the European Union, Chile and Japan have restricted purchases.