The US-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts in its latest report on Macau that it expects its gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 13.9 percent year on year in real terms this year.
The report, entitled "People's Republic of China - Macao Special Administrative Region: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2024 Article IV Mission", was released in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.
“GDP is projected to grow by 13.9 percent, due to the further recovery in the gaming sector and solid private investments, partly linked to the commitment of gaming concessionaires to invest in non-gaming sectors,” the statement said, adding that “GDP is expected to regain its pre-pandemic level in 2025.
The statement also said that “the medium-term growth trajectory hinges on the pace of the Macau SAR’s integration with the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the success of economic diversification efforts.”
Moreover, the statement said that “growth is projected to converge to 3 percent over the medium term.
“With narrowing output gap and increasing wages, inflation is projected to accelerate to 1.7 percent in 2024 and stabilise around 2.5 percent in the medium term.
“The current account surplus is expected to stabilise [at] around 30 percent of GDP supported by the rebound in services exports.”
The statement also said that Macau’s “external position is assessed as substantially stronger than warranted by medium term fundamentals and desirable policies, in part reflecting the high precautionary savings and subdued investments.”
The Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced recently that Macau’s GDP expanded by 80.5 percent in real terms last year, the highest annual GDP year-on-year growth on record, driven by a surge in service exports.
