Davis Fong Ka Chio, who heads the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau (UM), said on Tuesday he expected Macau’s gaming revenues to rise by up to 10 per cent this year.
Business
Macau trade deficit improved in the period from January to November 2016, having declined 18.34 per cent to 55,482 patacas (US$6.935 billion), reported the region’s Statistics and Census Bureau.
Macau gambling revenue falls 3.3 per cent in 2016 for the 3rd year in a row.
Macau’s airport reported on Monday a record of 6.6 million passengers last year, with over 56,000 aircraft movements, representing a 14 per cent and 2 per cent year-on-year increase.
Prices in Macau reversed the downward trend observed since last March and rose 1.53 per cent year on year in November, higher than the +1.33 per cent recorded in October, according to information from the Statistics and Census Bureau.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said on Thursday that Japan’s future casino operations were potentially a threat to the local gaming industry.
Macau and the United States of America have signed an agreement that will require local financial institutions to directly inform the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about American taxpayers’ bank accounts.
Aiming to stabilise Macau’s financial system and cash flow, the government has set the limit per ATM withdrawal with bank cards issued in the mainland at 5,000 patacas or HK$5,000, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said on Sunday.
The Gross Domestic Product of Macau (GDP) is expected to return to growth in 2017, the year in which the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) expects a rate of 5.2 per cent, which will rise one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.3 per cent in 2018 according to the latest report on the territory.