With little more than a week to go before the first phase of the consumer voucher expires, only a third of local residents have used the entire 3,000 pataca amount on the e-voucher.
As of Friday last week, only 205,000 local residents had used the entire amount on the e-voucher – just one-third of the 624,000 residents who have collected the subsidy.
The maximum transaction amount per day is 300 patacas.
If residents fail to use the entire 3,000 patacas before July 31, the remaining amount will return to the public coffers.
The first round of the e-voucher scheme for permanent and non-permanent residents started on May 1 as part of the government’s measures to stimulate the local economy, support local businesses and stabilize the job market during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Until July 17, official data shows that the total transactions amounted to 1.78 billion patacas.
The data also shows that 24% and 71% of the overall spending amount went to the catering and retail sectors respectively.
Approximately 63% of the overall spending was placed with SMEs.
Among these, about 40% of the total spending made through the consumer card went to establishments with fewer than 20 workers.
No details have been announced yet regarding the second phase of the e-voucher scheme. The next round amounts to 5,000 patacas worth of spend and will start in August and end on December 31.
For now, the government has reminded the public to keep their consumer card safe and to report any lost cards to police authorities.
After the conclusion of the scheme, the card will become an empty Macau Pass card which residents can top up themselves if they want to keep using it as a normal payment card.
The e-voucher scheme allegedly coincided with profiteering practices at supermarkets back in early May. As reported, several local supermarket brands were accused of profiteering by residents. Photographs that compared prices before and after the start of the scheme went viral on social media platforms as proof of the allegations.
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