Public revenue declines 27.5 pct

The Financial Services Bureau (DSF) yesterday published figures for the Macau government’s Central Account yesterday. The figures show a 27.5 percent year-on-year decrease in government revenue for January.
The total revenue for last month was MOP10.50 billion, around MOP3.98 billion less than that of a year ago. Direct taxes from gaming totaled MOP8.48 billion, dropping by 29.7 percent from MOP12.07 billion last year. Following this decline in revenue, the surplus figure also experienced a decrease. The surplus in January 2015 was MOP8.31 billion, falling 34.1 percent from last year’s MOP12.61 billion.
The Times spoke to Dr Chan Kin Sun from the University of Macau, a public finance specialist. The scholar has attributed the revenue decline to a consecutive drop in gaming revenue over the past months. He also pointed out that the MSAR government has always been attempting to control budget growth with long-term mechanisms such managing social security and public healthcare.
In terms of controlling expenses, the scholar said that some lawmakers have used figures from nearby regions – like the public servant-to-population ration in Hong Kong – to prove that Macau has an excessive number of public servants.
However, he suggested that Macau is a tourism city and the number of tourists should therefore be taken into consideration. Chan thus believes that people should determine whether the government is overstaffed by examining other figures, such as their expenses relative to the scale of the Macau economy.
Furthermore, Dr Chan suggested that the government has established some long-term policies regarding issues such as public healthcare, education and social security. Hence, he does not think that the short-term change in government revenue will result in the administration changing its overall plans with respect to the development of Macau’s public services.  JPL

Foreign exchange reserves up 1.5 pct

Macau’s foreign exchange reserves have surged, with an increase of 1.5 percent month-on-month at the end of January, reaching a total of MOP133.3 billion. Foreign exchange reserves in January represented 12 times the currency in circulation, as revealed by the Monetary Authority of Macau in a statement. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca – a gauge of the domestic currency’s exchange rates against the currencies of Macau’s major trading partners – rose 1.34 points month-on-month and 6.16 points year-on-year to 102.96 points in January.