The financial reserves of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) earnt 31.06 billion patacas last year, corresponding to a rate of return (RoR) of 5.3 percent, a record in pecuniary terms, the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) said in a statement yesterday.
In the past five years, the return of return amounted to 3.1 percent, according to the statement.
Macau’s quasi-central bank underlined that the record was achieved in spite of an “extremely unfavourable” situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement underlined the authority’s “prudent” investment strategy which targeted “markets with growth potential.”
Last year, the government used 46.6 billion patacas of the financial reserves to tackle its budget deficit caused by the impact of the COVID-10 pandemic on the local economy. It was the first time that the government tapped the MSAR’s financial reserves.
Year-on-year, the financial reserves rose 6.3 percent to 616.1 billion patacas at the end of last year.
Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case on January 22 last year.
