Macau’s economy is forecast to grow between 21.4 percent and 33.5 percent this year, according to a report released by the University of Macau (UM) yesterday.
Exports of services are forecast to grow between 53.4 percent and 82.1 percent this year, according to the 2021 Macau Macroeconomic Forecast released by the public university’s Centre for Macau Studies and Department of Economics.
The unemployment rate is projected to decline whereas government revenue – excluding possible reimbursements from its reserves – is predicted to amount to between 59.3 billion patacas and 73.9 billion patacas, according to the report.
The government last year adopted stringent travel restrictions to protect the health of Macau’s residents as the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world. As a result, Macau’s visitor arrivals in 2020 plummeted by 85.0 percent to 5.9 million. Service exports fell by 74.9 percent, and gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 56.3 percent.
In 2021, with the successful development of COVID-19 vaccines and the start of the vaccination drive, Macau’s travel restrictions are set to be gradually relaxed, and the number of visitors is expected to increase, the report said.
Macau experienced a severe economic downturn last year. Irrespective of the expected economic recovery this year, this year’s GDP is forecast by the UM study to still remain below 2019’s, while many residents’ income has dipped, the report added. – Xinhua, MPD
