A suite of stimulus measures for mainland China, unveiled by Beijing earlier this week, could boost Macao’s gaming revenues – but not immediately, according to Seaport Research Partners.
The US-headquartered investment research platform said the package was “likely to improve some sentiment” in both China and Macao in the medium-term, Inside Asia Gaming reported.
Tuesday saw People’s Bank of China (PBOC) governor Pan Gongsheng announce cuts to both the mortgage rate for existing housing and to the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) in a bid to incentivise spending and investment. The move was considered a positive sign that Beijing was serious about reinvigorating the country’s slumped economy.
[See more: Beijing announces new stimulus measures to boost the economy]
Both mainland and Hong Kong stocks surged in the wake of Pan’s announcement, the South China Morning Post reported, boosting by US$592 billion the total market capitalisation of Chinese stocks listed on the mainland, in Hong Kong and on Wall Street.
October’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) was meanwhile forecast to be a significantly higher 21.5 billion patacas, off the back of the upcoming National Day holiday period. That figure would be a 10.3 percent year-on-year increase and 28 percent up on what Seaport predicted for September.
“We expect November and December to follow normal historical trends, with December being a bit weaker than normal due to the expected visit of General Secretary Xi for one day,” analyst Vitaly Umansky said.
