Macau issues Italy travel warning

The Macau government's Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) issued today a Level 2 Travel Alert to Italy. The office said it in a statement that it was alerting "Macau residents who intend to travel to, or are already in that country [Italy] to reconsider the current travel plans."It is suggested to avoid non-essential travel to the destination," the statement said, adding that the office would "keep monitoring the latest developments of the

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Retail sales rise 0.5 pct in 2019

Macau's retail sales rose 0.5 percent year-on-year to 77.18 billion patacas (US$9.64 billion), the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. Watches and jewellery (15.85 billion patacas), goods sold in department stores (13.34 billion patacas) and leather goods (10.28 billion patacas) accounted for 20.5 percent, 17.3 percent and 13.3 percent respectively. Sales of automotive fuels and cosmetics and sanitary articles grew 11.6 percent and 9.5 percent respectively, while

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau GDP shrinks 4.7 pct in 2019

Macau's gross domestic product shrank 4.7 percent in real terms last year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. It was Macau's first negative GDP growth in three years. In 2018 and 2017 the economy grew 5.4 percent and 9.9 percent respectively, after three consecutive years of negative growth. Today's DSEC statement noted that Macau has experienced negative growth since the first quarter of 2019 due to decreases in investment and exports of services. Domestic

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Oversea Mama PH is 'unauthorised' financial entity in Macau

The Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) said in a statement yesterday that the "Oversea Mama PH" money transfer service from Macau to the Philippines through a social media account "is not authorised to carry out regulated financial activities in the Macau Special Administrative Region" (MSAR).  According to an AMCM statement, only authorised financial institutions are allowed to carry out regulated financial activities in Macau," according to the Macau Financial

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau imposes quarantine on arrivals from Iran, Italy

The Macau government has imposed 14-day medical surveillance in isolation on arrivals who have been to Italy or Iran in the past 14 days prior to their entry into Macau. According to a statement by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, the measure took effect at noon today. While Macau residents arriving from the two countries can stay in self-quarantine at their home, non-locals will have to stay at a designated hotel for two weeks at their own expense. Today's

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Hotel guests drop 11 pct to 1.09 million in January

A total of 1.09 million guests checked into Macau's 122 hotels and guesthouses last month, a year-on-year decrease of 11.4 percent, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.According to a DSEC statement yesterday, mainland Chinese accounted for 72.6 percent of all guests. While the number of guests from the mainland dropped 11.3 percent to 792,000, the number of guests from Hong Kong rose 11.0 percent to 107,000. The number of Taiwan guests fell 20.9 percent to 31,000.Some 42,000

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau's Catholic churches to reopen on March 7

Macau's Catholic diocese announced today the reopening of its parish churches on March 7, "considering the latest development of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Macau."However, according to a notice by the diocese's chancery received by The Macau Post Daily tonight, Sunday Masses will remain suspended (including Anticipated Sunday Masses on Saturday evenings) until further notice.The notice also pointed out that "on weekdays parish churches will be open only for liturgies

February 28, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau visitors' per-capita spending drops 16.5 pct last year

Visitors' per-capita spending excluding gambling expenditure fell 16.5 percent year-on-year to 1,626 patacas (US$203) last year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced. According to a DSEC statement on Wednesday, overnight  visitors' per-capita spending fell 11.8 percent top 2,681 patacas (US$335), while same-day visitors' spending dropped12.5 percent to 680 patacas. Mainland visitors' per-capita spending decreased 18.2 percent to 1,834 patacas. Per-capita spending

February 28, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau visitors drop 16.8 pct to 2.8 million in Jan over COVID-19 threat

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, Macau's number of visitor arrivals dropped 16.8 percent year-on-year to 2.85 million in January, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) said today. According to a DSEC statement, same-day visitors (1.53 million) and overnight visitors (1.32 million) decreased 14.2 percent and 19.6 percent respectively. Visitors' average length of stay remained unchanged year-on-year at 1.2 days. Overnight visitors' average length of stay rose slightly to

February 28, 2020 | BY admin

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Drunken croupier uses twin’s ID, has no driving licence: police

A local man was caught driving under the influence (DUI) and without a licence, as well as using his twin brother’s ID card, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Ho Ka Kit said during a regular press conference yesterday.The suspect, a 34-year-old surnamed Ng, works as a croupier (dealer) in a local casino.According to Ho, Ng was caught at a roadblock set up by Public Security Police’s (PSP) in Avenida de Vencenslau de Morais early Monday morning.Ho said that Ng was riding a motorcycle

February 28, 2020 | BY admin

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Dog of HK COVID-19 patient tests positive for virus: reports

The pet dog of a Hong Kong Covid-19 patient has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Hong Kong media quoted the Hong Kong government as saying late last night. According to the reports, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said the canine had not shown any symptoms and there was no evidence so far to suggest that pets could contract the virus or can be a source of infection to humans, in a statement issued after midnight.The department said more tests would be conducted

February 28, 2020 | BY admin

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Entertainment venues can reopen Monday

Addressing yesterday’s daily press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Health Bureau (SSM) Director Lei Chin Ion said that the government has decided that the city’s entertainment venues, such as cinemas and gyms can reopen for business on Monday, considering that Macau has not confirmed a new COVID-19 case for 23 consecutive days.The health chief also said that the government has made the decision as the new 14-day-quarantine measure for non-resident workers

February 28, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau’s int’l banking assets rise to 1.7 trillion patacas last year

Macau’s international banking assets rose 12.7 percent year-on-year to 1.71 trillion patacas at the end of last year, the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) announced today.Among the international banking assets, external assets rose 14.9 percent year-on-year to 1.29 trillion patacas, while local assets in foreign currency rose 6.4 percent to 424 billion patacas. External nonbank loans increased 10.5 percent to 555 billion patacas.Total international liabilities rose 14.1 percent year-on-year to

February 28, 2020 | BY admin

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Swiss band & local bands to live stream concert on Sunday

Local experimental duo Faslane and Swiss duo Influut will be live-streaming a concert on Sunday instead of the Asia Tour that had been planned before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.Faslane, comprising Matthew Ho Pak Hon and António Sou Yan Ting, had been planning to join Swiss duo Influut, comprising Nat Cilia and Daniel Maszkowicz, on an Asia Tour that was to have kicked off in Macau on Sunday.The tour was to take in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan but due to the

February 28, 2020 | BY admin

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