The fall in Macau exports of services relating to games of fortune should reach its lowest point this year, and the economy as a whole will contract 5.9 per cent, in real terms, according to Economist intelligent Unit (EIU).
The growth rate of gross domestic product will reverse the downward trend registered since 2014, when the economy contracted 0.4 per cent, in 2017, with the EIU estimating an increase of more than 11 percentage in 2016 to 5.3 per cent.
Most of the indicators included in the forecast summary will remain virtually unchanged, with the exceptions being gross fixed capital formation or investment that should go minus 19.7 per cent this year to minus 3.3 per cent in 2017 and government budget balance as a percentage of GDP will maintain the downward trend observed since 2014 for a value of 7 per cent.
The years 2016 and 2017 have been or will be the stage of opening of new integrated resorts in the area of Cotai.
Last Tuesday, Sands China Ltd. opened the complex “The Parisian”, an investment of US$ 2.9 billion which includes a half sized replica of the Eiffel Tower, three thousand rooms, 150 stores, ten restaurants and a casino with 410 gaming tables and 1,600 slot machines.
In the report issued on Macau, EIU says that the impactful effects of the anti-corruption campaign launched by the Chinese government have been overcome, and in August the amount of gross revenue of gaming inverted the annual downward trend that occurred during 26 consecutive months.
The passage of the “darkest period” will allow, according to the EIU, Macau’s economy to resume the path of growth and record a year-on-year fall of only 5.9 per cent, despite the contraction of 10.3 per cent recorded in first half, according to the EIU.
Finally, public expenditure will continue to grow, as the government will tend to spend more to act as a buffer to the registered economic downturn. (Macau News)
