The preliminary estimate of Macau’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves amounted to 213.5 billion patacas (US$26.40) at the end of April, the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) announced yesterday.
The regulator’s data showed that the reserves decreased 0.7 percent from the revised value of 215.0 billion patacas for the previous month.
Macau’s foreign exchange reserves as of the end of April represented 10 times the currency in circulation, or 84.2 percent of the pataca broad money supply (M2) at the end of March.
The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca fell 1.03 points month-on-month but rose 2.02 points year-on-year to 101.1 in April.
The patacas is Macau’s sole legal tender, while the Hong Kong dollar is the special administrative region’s customary tender, in tourism, external trade and real-estate transactions in particular.
– Xinhua, MPD
