The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday unanimously passed the outline of the government’s 2026 budget bill, which expects a budget surplus of 5.31 billion patacas next year.
Introducing the outline of the 2026 budget bill during yesterday’s plenary session, Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip said that the government expects its revenues to reach 118.80 billion patacas next year, while its expenditure next year is expected to amount to 113.48 billion patacas.
After yesterday’s passage of its outline, the 2026 budget bill will be passed to one of the legislature’s standing committees for an article-by-article review, after which it will be resubmitted to another plenary session for its second and final debate and article-by-article vote, which must be carried out before the end of next month.
The government’s 2026 budget must be promulgated in the Official Gazette (BO) by the end of this year for its implementation from the first day of next year.
Tai said during yesterday’s plenary session that Macau continues to see a year-on-year increase in the number of visitors so far this year, contributing to a steady growth in the city’s economy.
According to official statistics, Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased 4.2 percent in the first three quarters of this year in real terms.
Tai said that the government expects Macau’s tourism and gaming sectors to continue growing next year. However, he said, Macau can be expected to continue to be subject to uncertainty in the external environment next year.
After comprehensively assessing various factors, Tai said, the local government has adopted a relatively cautious forecast for Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2026, expecting next year’s GGR to reach 236 billion patacas (a monthly average of 19.67 billion patacas), which he pointed out is a sum that constitutes the main source of budgeted government revenues proposed by the 2026 budget bill.
Because of the expected GGR of 236 billion patacas next year, according to the 2026 budget bill, the government’s 2026 direct gaming tax revenue is expected to amount to 82.6 billion patacas, i.e., 35 percent of the six gaming concessionaires’ GGR.
Macau’s gaming operators pay 35 percent of their gross gaming receipts as direct tax to the government, apart from another five percent as levies for a wide range of public causes.
The government’s 2025 budget bill presented in 2024 initially expected Macau’s GGR in 2025 to reach 240 billion patacas (a monthly average of 20 billion patacas). However, the government submitted a 2025 budget amendment bill earlier this year, lowering its estimation of this year’s GGR to 228 billion patacas (a monthly average of 19 billion patacas).
According to official statistics, Macau’s GGR in the first 10 months of this year amounted to 205.427 billion patacas, equivalent to a monthly average of 20.54 billion patacas, representing an 8.0 year-on-year increase compared to the same period of last year.
According to the Financial Services Bureau (DSF), the government’s gaming taxes receipts of 77.47 billion patacas accounted for 83.3 percent of the government’s total receipts of 93.05 billion patacas in the first 10 months of this year.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip addresses yesterday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle. – Photo: GCS
