First non-deficit budget of this gov’t term passed but with many remarks

The 2024 budget will be the last from the current government term and will be the first that will not be in deficit and resorting to the financial reserves to balance the accounts, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, said yesterday evening at the Legislative Assembly (AL) where the Budget 2024 bill was being discussed on its first reading.

Although the bill was passed unanimously by all lawmakers in the plenary of AL, it was not without remarks with some lawmakers having many questions for Secretary Lei.

Lei dealt with most of the sensitive questions by stating, “I won’t be able to reply to many of the questions addressed by the lawmakers at this moment. While some are more suitable to be discussed at a later stage in the Standing Committee [where the bill will be analyzed in detail], and some others are mostly related to the Policy Address [for 2024], which has not yet been presented by the Chief Executive, I cannot comment on those topics just yet.”

Some lawmakers were concerned that although the budget had a positive balance, the difference between forecast revenue and the expenditure was close. Some feared this could be potentially dangerous if some “mishap” or event slowed Macau’s current economic recovery.

The government’s budget revenue for next year is approximately 107.1 billion patacas, an increase of approximately 1.8% compared with this year’s initial budget.

Concurrently, budget expenditure is expected to reach some 105.9 billion patacas, an increase of approximately 1.4% from this year, reflecting a positive expected balance of 1.17 billion patacas for 2024.

With the return to surplus, the government also proposes to resume measures to benefit the population. The measures had been stopped as they were predicated on a government accounts surplus. Such measures included the annual 7,000 patacas to be injected into the individual accounts of the Central Provident Fund.

It was also confirmed that civil servants’ wages will be updated from the current 91 patacas per index point to 94 patacas per point, an increase of 3.3%.

In his presentation, Lei noted the 2024 budget represents a return to economic progress and that it should be seen as a sign of hope and encouragement for the whole population after the last four difficult years.

Lawmaker Nick Lei questioned the criteria that resulted in the proposed increase of civil servants’ wages. He called on the government to make the process “more transparent and more methodical so that it can be easily trusted and followed by the private sector.”

The same lawmaker noted that the gaming industry accounts for some 51,000 workers of Macau’s total workforce, which should prompt the government to take “special actions” to ensure these workers “receive benefits in the same way [as the government employees] so that workers from the gaming concessions can also improve their quality of life.”

Also critical of the budget was lawmaker Ron Lam who said that he could not see “any measures to tackle society’s problems.”

Lam said that on the contrary, next year’s budget “seems to be reducing elements relevant to the livelihood of the population, precisely where the government should be increasing them.”

Lei replied that the amounts to be spent on each part of the annual budget are strictly following the approved Administrative Plan for the Development Investments and Expenditures (PIDDA) and that “the distribution of the available wealth to each sector is being made to reach a balance.”

Lam also noted that the government’s financial reserves are still very healthy with the general reserve to reach 547 billion patacas and the extraordinary reserve to add another 393 billion patacas.

“These reserves and funds are for future generations and the way to invest in them is by investing in education,” he said, claiming that considering the value per capita, “the government is, in reality, under-investing in education which is a capital sector.”

Lam also noted that many social subsidies and benefits have remained unchanged for the proposed budget of 2024, a fact that is considered disappointing considering the significant loss of families’ purchasing power over the last four years.

On the same topic, lawmakers José Pereira Coutinho and Che Sai Wang also insisted on the reinstatement of the “consumption cards” to restore lost purchasing power and to stimulate internal consumption.  They stated residents have now become used to “purchase everything online from mainland sales platforms and they have stopped acquiring goods locally.”