The Legislative Assembly passed the outline of next year’s budget bill during Friday’s plenary session, according to which the government will continue to run a budget deficit.
Introducing the outline of the 2021 budget bill, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong said that the government would allocate MOP 26.5 billion (US$3.3 billion) from its extraordinary reserves so as to fill the deficit. Lei said that the government had so far used about one-fifth of the Macao Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) extraordinary financial reserves to fill the budget deficit caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy. The policy secretary said that before the government’s various COVID-19 measures which began to be implemented early this year, the extraordinary financial reserves stood at MOP 440 billion.
The bill expects the government’s revenues to reach MOP 96 billion next year, while the government’s expenditure is budgeted at MOP 95.2 billion – after being allocated from the extraordinary reserves.
Lei also said the government expected the gaming industry to generate MOP 130 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) next year. The industry pays up to 40 per cent of its gross gaming revenue to the government as direct gaming tax and additional “contributions”.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
PHOTO © Government Information Bureau (GCS)
