Macau’s preliminary balance of payments (BOP) for last year recorded a surplus of 12.1 billion patacas, the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) has announced.
According to an AMCM statement on Friday, last year’s current account surplus amounted to 142.8 billion patacas, while financial non-reserve assets showed a net increase of 83.5 billion patacas.
In 2019, exports of goods decreased 8.3 percent year-on-year while imports of goods rose 0.7 percent. As a result, the merchandise trade deficit widened from 91.2 billion patacas in 2018 to 93.3 billion patacas in 2019.
Service exports dipped 1.1 percent, mainly due to falling exports of travel services, while service imports dropped 6.5 percent. Therefore, the services account surplus fell from 311.7 billion patacas in 2018 to 310.3 billion patacas in 2019.
The primary income account, which reflects cross-border flows of factor income, recorded a net outflow of 49.0 billion patacas last year.
The secondary income account, which comprises current transfers between Macau residents and non-residents, recorded a net outflow of 25.2 billion patacas in 2019.
As the large invisible trade surplus offset the deficit in merchandise trade and the net outflows of primary and secondary income, the current account recorded a surplus of 142.8 billion patacas in 2019, down by 6.4 billion patacas from 2018.
Financial non-reserve assets registered a net outflow of 83.5 billion patacas in 2019, representing a decrease of 16.1 billion patacas compared to the net outflow in 2018.
Reserve assets in the financial account rose by 12.1 billion patacas as compared to a decrease of 2.1 billion patacas in 2018, reflecting an overall BOP surplus of 12.1 billion patacas in 2019.
Reserve assets in the financial account record the net change in Macau’s foreign exchange reserves held by the AMCM, the statement noted. Reserve assets, after price, exchange rate and other adjustments, rose by 12.1 billion patacas as compared to a decrease of 2.1 billion patacas in 2018, reflecting an overall BOP surplus of MOP12.1 billion in 2019, according to the statement.
