Macao’s so-called “wealth partaking” scheme is set to continue this year, although the government may make adjustments based on feedback from the public. That’s according to Chief Executive (CE) Sam Hou Fai, who was speaking at a press conference yesterday.
Sam pointed out that the scheme, which is intended as a means for the government to share the city’s immense casino revenue with residents, was “a widely anticipated measure to benefit the people of Macao” and that he had agreed to it when reviewing the 2025 budget with his predecessor Ho Iat Seng last year.
Sam said the scheme would have a budget of 7.48 billion patacas (US$926 million) this year. He mentioned that more than 92.1 billion patacas (US$11.4 billion) had been distributed since the program’s initiation in 2008, calling the sum “substantial.”
The CE, however, pointed out that there was room to change the program’s distribution channels and optimise it further to make it fairer and more accurate. “Everyone can provide suggestions,” Sam said. “How to distribute it will depend on the overall economic environment.”
[See: The Internet asked, ‘Why is Macao so rich?’ and we answered]
Leong In Pong, the deputy head of the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations Social Affairs Committee, said during the Macao Forum Radio program this month that the government should enforce a rule in which beneficiaries have to reside in Macao for a certain period of time. Such a rule would be similar to the non-mandatory central provident fund’s requirement that residents stay in Macao for at least 183 days to be eligible for its payment.
Launched by the then CE Edmund Ho Hau Wah in 2008, the “wealth partaking” program was originally intended to help Macao weather the financial crisis. At the time, sums of 5,000 patacas and 3,000 patacas were handed out to permanent residents and non-permanent residents respectively.
These figures have shifted over the years, but have remained fixed at the current rate of 10,000 patacas for permanent residents and 6,000 patacas for non-permanent residents since 2019.
Some 748,000 people benefited from the scheme last year.
