Financial secretary signals possible consumption stimulus in response to public calls to boost business

[Photo; Yuki Lei

Calls for a new community consumption incentive have gained traction among scholars and lawmakers and attracted broad media attention, and the financial secretary hinted yesterday that the government is actively exploring measures to boost consumption.

As part of efforts to boost community vitality, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Anton Tai, said the government is “actively seeking input from all sectors and exploring measures to stimulate consumption,” stressing a particular focus on supporting the local economy.

The pledges were made while addressing yesterday’s industry and commerce symposium hosted by the Macau Chinese Chamber of Commerce, where the official, in the session on “Empowering Enterprise Development in All Dimensions,” stressed the measures to boost consumption and help businesses seize new opportunities amid change and pursue development through transformation.

He said authorities are soliciting wide-ranging input from across society on measures to stimulate consumption and will promptly adjust existing policies as needed to align with changing socioeconomic priorities.

Calls to relaunch measures such as the Community Consumption Reward Program have gained traction in recent weeks, with Chineselanguage media citing civic leaders, business representatives, and scholars who say the postLunar New Year period typically marks a consumption lull and are urging refinements – including “weekend draws and weekday redemption” and longer voucher redemption windows – to boost weekday spending.

At yesterday’s symposium, Tai acknowledged that percapita visitor spending has trended downward in recent years as demand shifts from “shoppingdriven” to “experiencedriven,” while noting that total arrivals had risen 14.8% year-on-year to about 10.117 million as of Saturday; he did not give detailed figures for the surge in mainland tourists, only saying international arrivals increased 11.3% to 668,000.

Other figures Tai highlighted included 40.069 million visitor arrivals in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%; gross domestic product (GDP) of MOP418.04 billion, a real growth of 4.7% year-on-year; investment income from fiscal reserves of MOP 62.92 billion, with an annual return rate of 6.9%; an annual unemployment rate for local residents of 2.5%, remaining relatively low; and an annual inflation rate of 0.33%, indicating price stability.

In his speech, Tai outlined this year’s work plan, which includes targeted measures to drive business transformation and attract new investment to areas such as ZAPE and the Inner Harbour area. Authorities will adopt a model of “government oversight and coordination, public investment of resources and privatesector planning and organization,” using the district development centre to coordinate privatesector event planning and leverage each district’s unique assets to promote commercialdistrict development.

Event-wise, Tai revealed the “Macao International Fireworks Display Contest” and the “Macao Light Festival” will be held again this year.