The Economic Services Bureau (DSE) said in a statement on Thursday that 614,000 residents have collected their first round of consumption subsidy smartcards, which equates to 93 per cent of those registered.
According to a DSE statement earlier this year, 658,000 residents registered for the government-issued consumption promotion cards known in Cantonese as “siufai kat”.
Consequently, some 40,000 residents have still not picked up their cards.
In the first tranche of the scheme, residents were provided with MOP 3,000 to spend by 31 July, thus the bureau on Thursday urged all those who have yet to collect their cards to pick them up and use them “as soon as possible”, as any amount remaining on the card after 31 July would return to the public coffers, the statement said.
According to Thursday’s statement, registrants must pick up their smartcards on or before next Friday at one of the following locations during office hours: the Economic Service Bureau in Rua do Doutor Pedro José Lobo; the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) branch in Avenida de Sidónio Pais, or the Government Service Centres in Areia Preta and Taipa.
According to a statement earlier this year, the government plans to spend MOP 2.2 billion on the first-phase of the consumption subsidy scheme and MOP 3.6 billion on the second phase of the scheme.
The second phase of the scheme will see residents receiving MOP 5,000.
Residents can only spend up to MOP 300 per day during the first-phase of the consumption subsidy scheme, while the second phase will continue to have a daily maximum amount of spending, but it may change after the government assesses the spending patterns during the first phase, the earlier government statement said.
That statement also noted that those who lose their consumption smartcard will not be issued a new one.
The statement also noted that as the second-phase subsidy of MOP 5,000 will be added to the same card, residents should keep their cards safe to ensure that they don’t lose it. Residents who lose their card are required to report the loss to the police, the statement said.
The government has not decided whether or not any resident who did not pick up his or her first round smartcard, will be able to collect the card for the second round.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
