Residents will be able to use MOP at Cooperation Zone

Macau residents living and working in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin will be allowed to use local currency (pataca) for small transactions while in the Cooperation Zone. The measure is included in a proposal from the People’s Bank of China as well as several other institutions and regulatory bodies. The proposal aims to improve the lives of those living and working at the Cooperation Zone.

The Money Authority of Macao (AMCM) is seeking to phase in a financial system at the Cooperation Zone that will evolve according to the circumstances and needs. The AMCM also wants to implement financial reform and optimize services in the Zone to improve quality of life within the population. These proposals are contained in a document titled “Opinion on Financial Support for the Construction of the Hengqin-Guangdong In-Depth Cooperation Zone.”

The measure includes not only the possibility of payments in patacas but also other measures that will be deployed experimentally. Such measures were said to include “projects related to individual capital, facilitation of the use of cross-border mobile payments, as well as the simplification of applications for credit financing in the Cooperation Zone submitted by Macau residents.”

The AMCM statement also noted that in 2025, the local government “will carry out the preparatory integration of the Cooperation Zone and Macau in the area of financial services, to create a favorable financial environment for the life and employment of Macau residents.”