Lei: Forecast of economy to be ‘stable and improving’

It is estimated that the city’s economy will be “stable and improving” in 2021, according to a remark delivered by Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong to the media on the sidelines of an event yesterday.
Lei also confirmed that the projection to rake in around MOP130 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) throughout 2021 will remain unchanged.
Despite the fact that the visitor arrival tally to Macau is still a far cry from the pre-pandemic levels, the government will continue to monitor changes in the travel market and explore ways to increase sources of arrivals and prolong the average length of stay among travelers — which Lei suggested a longer length of stay will lead to higher tourism incomes.
According to the lastest official data, the number of business shutdowns was down 30% in 2020, year-on-year. Meanwhile, there were 11,000 openings in 2020, more or less the same compared to the number of 2019.
The unemployment rate of local residents was 4.0% from September to November, down by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous three-month period from August to October, according to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
Lei also pledged that the government will continue to exert efforts on job-matching and vocational training activities to help residents land jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic. HT