Macao’s financial reserve lost value for the sixth consecutive month, registering a fall of MOP 8.67 billion (US$1.08 billion) in June, according to data published in the Official Gazette by the Monetary Authority of Macao.
The financial reserve of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) amounted to MOP 597.3 billion (US$74.39 billion) at the end of June, compared to MOP 605.9 billion (US$75.46 billion) in May.
In the first six months of the year, Macao lost MOP 46 billion (US$5.73 billion), which represents 7.13 per cent of the SAR’s reserve.
According to Lusa News Agency, the amount of the basic reserve, equivalent to 150 per cent of Macao’s public budget for 2022, was MOP 155.8 billion (US$19.4 billion) and the extraordinary reserve was MOP 458.9 billion (US$57.15 billion).
The financial reserve is mainly composed of deposits and current accounts in the amount of MOP 262.7 billion, credit securities in the amount of MOP 152.3 billion and up to MOP 175 billion in subcontracted investments.
The Macao government has injected more than MOP 90 billion (US$11.2 billion) into the budget to face extraordinary expenses that resulted from special measures to help the population and small- and medium-sized enterprises in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under its annual cash contribution plan, the SAR government has already granted more than US$87.1 million to Macao residents this year.
