Gov’t officially extends bank note issuing rights to BOC, BNU

Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, disclosed that the bank notes in circulation have expanded 14-fold in the past quarter of a century, with a monetary value of 18.5 billion patacas.
With Macau’s growing exposure on the global stage, the authenticity and reliability of the pataca has also become increasingly important, Lei said during the contract exchange ceremony to officialize the extension of bank note issuing rights of the two commercial banks.
Originally due to end in October this year, the rights of issuance have been extended for a decade for Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) and the Bank of China, Macau Branch (BOC), with the new contracts signed last month.
Lei expressed gratitude towards the two banks for their diligence in administering bank note issuance in Macau.
The official added that the two commercial banks have been working shoulder to shoulder with the government. On top of their designation as the bank note issuers, they have also worked relentlessly to abide by local policies and regulations in order to stabilize the supply of the local currency. The two banks have also regularly abolished old designs and security technologies to introduce new ones.
During traditional festivities and national celebrations, the two banks have also issued commemorative bank notes, the most memorable of these being the Chinese horoscope sign commemorative bank notes, which stirred up significant interest in the general public when they were first issued.
The legal tender of Macau, the Macanese Pataca, has its bank notes printed by two commercial banks, instead of the city’s central bank.
In fact, the city does not even have a namesake central bank. Rather, it has a de facto one, which is the Monetary Authority of Macao, a government entity making fiscal and financial policies as well as supervising activities related to these areas.
Incorporated in 1864 in Portugal, BNU first issued bank notes in Macau in 1906. Meanwhile, in preparation for Macau’s change of sovereignty in 1999, BOC began its bank note issuance in 1995. Since then, the dual-issuer tradition has remained.
Meanwhile, Carlos Cid Álvares, CEO of BNU, stressed that the bank has a network spanning four continents and seven lusophone countries, making it the bridge between China and the lusophone world. In the future, it will focus on integrating into the Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road.
He ended his speech by describing BNU’s extended rights to issue bank notes as “an honor of Portugal.”
Meanwhile, Wang Jiang, President of the BOC, pointed out that the bank will continue to help safeguard Macau’s financial stability, while providing full-coverage, quality, and smart and safe banking services to Macau.