News

According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, broad money supply continued to grow in November. As total deposits increased at a faster pace than total loans, the overall loan-to-deposit ratio of the banking sector dropped from a month earlier.
Money supply
Currency in circulation grew 2.8% while demand deposits dropped 1.0%. M1 thus decreased 0.4% from one month earlier. Concurrently, quasi-monetary liabilities rose 3.3%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, increased by 2.8% to MOP370.3 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 10.6% and 22.6% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 24.4%, down 0.5 percentage points from a month ago or 0.6 percentage points from a year earlier. The share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 55.1%, down 0.9 percentage points month-to-month but up 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.
Deposits
Resident deposits rose 2.8% from the preceding month to MOP362.7 billion. Of which, MOP deposits, HKD deposits and other foreign currency deposits increased at respective rates of 0.7%, 1.3% and 10.1%. Non-resident deposits increased 5.8% to MOP131.2 billion while public sector deposits with the banking sector edged down 0.1% to MOP42.1 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector rose 3.3% from a month earlier to MOP536.1 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 20.4% and 46.6% respectively.
Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector increased 3.5% from a month ago to MOP196.0 billion. Among which, MOP59.8 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP119.9 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 30.5% and 61.2% of the total respectively. External loans also rose 0.2% to MOP212.5 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 0.9% (MOP1.9 billion) and 24.9% (MOP53.0 billion) respectively.
Loan-to-deposit ratios
As domestic loans to the private sector grew faster than resident deposits, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-November rose 0.4 percentage points month-to-month to 48.4%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors was 76.2%, down 1.2 percentage points from end-October.
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To celebrate the coming Chinese New Year, Macao Post will launch "Gift Fulfillment Service" from 7 to 27 January 2013 with the purpose of providing a convenient channel to Macao citizen for sending the festival blessing to families, friends and trading partners in China, Hong Kong and Macao. Macao Post has specially selected 10 sets of New Year gifts including luxury hampers and festive gift sets to suit different clients' needs. The price is only starting from MOP158 (inclusive of delivery charge). You may place your orders on or before 27 January at http://www.macaupost.gov.mo, Central post office or any post offices. For enquiry, please feel free to contact our Gift Fulfillment Service hotline at 83968813 or email to reb@macaupost.gov.mo.
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TO celebrate the coming Chinese New Year, Macao Post will issue a lucky ornament titled "Macao's Lunar Year of the Snake Stamp" on 3rd January 2013. It is engraved with laser techniques for highlighting the Macao Post Headquarters' building and a thin wooden card with the wood snake stamp image is affixed on the other side. The unique design is certainly a precious and commemorative collectable. It will be available for sale at the Macao Post Headquarters, the "Rua do Campo" Post Office, the Maritime Ferry Terminal Post Office, the Airport Post Office and the Communications Museum and the selling price is MOP 15.00.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, is to lead an official delegation to Shenzhen from 7 to 8 January to attend the 2012 Shenzhen-Macao Co-operation Meeting, according to a statement by the Office of the Government Spokesperson. This is the annual meeting for 2012 between the two cities, which has been postponed to early next week. Mr Chui is scheduled to meet with the Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Shenzhen Municipal Committee Mr Wang Rong, and Mayor of Shenzhen Mr Xu Qin, and exchange views on extending co-operation and exchanges in various areas. Co-operation with Shenzhen, under the Guangdong-Macao Co-operation Framework Agreement, is an integral part of Macao's effort for regional co-operation. In the meeting, officials from Macao and Shenzhen are scheduled to sign memorandums and agreements on co-operation in different areas, including the regulation and inspection of medicine, inspection techniques, inspection of frozen poultry, as well as education. Members of Mr Chui's delegation include the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen; the Chief-of-Cabinet of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng; the Secretary-General of the Executive Council, Ms Wallis O Lam, and the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping. The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, will be Acting Chief Executive while Mr Chui is away.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said today the Government would introduce long-term planning in various areas, including social security, healthcare, education and housing. Reviewing the achievements of the past 12 months, Mr Chui said Macao had remained stable with its economy growing steadily, as the Government continued to carry out its principle of putting the people first. He said the Government had dealt with various issues in the past year, such as constitutional development, inflation, the needs of the under-privileged, housing market, public housing, emergencies and buildings with structural problems. During the process of dealing with these matters, the Government kept placing the benefits of the residents as priority and paid attention to the suggestion and advice of community organisations and the general public. This brought the residents and the Government even closer, and also contributed to the attainment of a more prosperous, harmonious and stable society, Mr Chui said. He expressed his gratitude to all members of our community for their love of Macao and their support to the Government. Speaking on his plan for new year, Mr Chui said that in addition to introducing tax exemptions and other measures that would benefit the people, the Government would focus on formulating long-term planning in the areas of social security, healthcare, education, housing, transport and environmental protection. He acknowledged that there were still different problems that had to be addressed amid our community, and that there was still room for improvement for the Government. He stressed that with the concerted efforts and endeavour of the whole community, Macao will be able to overcome these difficulties and challenges and achieve even better results. He said that the development of Macao would continue as the Mainland optimised the policy of reforming and opening-up, for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The Government would extend co-operation and exchanges with the Mainland in trade and other areas to diversify Macao's industrial spectrum and enhance its competitiveness. He expressed his gratitude to residents and public servants who had to work over the New Year holidays and wished everyone a good year ahead.
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Two slightly injured people remained in hospital for observation after a Hong Kong-bound jetfoil hit a buoy on a marine lane off the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal about 12:27 today. According to statements by the Office of the Government Spokesperson, Fire Services Bureau and Maritime Administration, there were 175 passengers and eight crew members on the vessel, which departed the ferry terminal at 12:15 for Hong Kong. At 12:27, the vessel hit a buoy in a marine lane off the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal. After the accident, the Macao Vessel Traffic Control Centre kept communicating with the crew to obtain information about the injuries and the condition of the vessel. To minimise risks, the authorities decided to send a tugboat to tow the vessel back to the terminal after they were assured that it faced no danger of sinking and that no passengers were injured seriously. The vessel reached the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal at 13:30 and the 26 injured people were taken to hospital by waiting ambulances, most of them with scratches and bruises: 24 of them were discharged after treatment. As of 18:00, a 60-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man, both Mainland visitors, remained in hospital for observation. Both were in normal condition.
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Under the provisions of Administrative Regulation nº 30/2011 as amended by Administrative Regulation nº 5/2012, the Macao Branch of Bank of China Limited and the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, S.A. are authorized to issue Lunar New Year Snake Banknotes. Macao residents (Macao permanent and non-permanent identity card holders) can openly register online for exchange of the banknotes in stages. Arrangement for online registration
Online registration for the Lunar New Year Snake Banknotes will commence in January next year. The registration period will start at 9:00 am on 2 January and end at 6:00 pm on 31 January 2013. Macao residents can log onto the systems of the Macao Branch of Bank of China Limited and the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, S.A. respectively via the webpage of the Monetary Authority of Macao (www.amcm.gov.mo). Each Macao resident is entitled to one online registration for 30 Snake Banknotes from each Issuing Bank, namely, 60 Snake Banknotes from the two Issuing Banks in total. The quantity has been predetermined and cannot be altered. Apart from the two Issuing Banks, other locations available for exchange include the selected branches of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited, Tai Fung Bank Limited, Weng Hang Bank Limited, Luso International Banking Limited and Banco Comercial de Macau. Moreover, the registrants can log onto the above-mentioned systems via the webpage of AMCM for inquiry of their confirmed registration details. Arrangement for the note exchange
Starting from 1 March till 30 August 2013, the Snake Banknotes can be exchanged at the specified banks during their business hours. Registrants can proceed in person to exchange the notes by cash at the chosen locations on the selected day. The Snake Banknotes will be exchanged on random basis. Registrants are not allowed to choose and pick serial numbers of the exchanged banknotes. The arrangement for proxy applicants will be announced at a later date.
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Consumer Council released its latest specific price survey on milk powder. Survey result showed that prices of the 8 surveyed products recorded various price differences. The highest price difference recorded was over 30 percent and a Japanese brand recorded price increase of over 10 percent in many retail outlets. Consumer Council collected prices of 8 brands of milk powder, mainly infant formulas for new born babies, from 28 retail outlets on 26th December. Survey result showed that one surveyed brand was sold at the same price in all surveyed retail outlets, the rest of the 7 brands recorded price differences from the lowest 2.4 percent to the highest 31.52 percent. The greatest price discrepancy was recorded in 'Snow Brand Smart Baby 1/900g', which was sold at $230.0 to $302.5. In comparison with October's figures, prices of 'Snow Brand Smart Baby 1/900g' in many retail spots had been raised by more than 10 percent while prices of other surveyed brands remained stable. The specific price survey on milk powder is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals decreased by 1.8% year-on-year to 2,374,110 in November 2012, and same-day visitors (1,214,337) accounted for 51.1% of the total. The average length of stay of visitors stood at 1.0 day, up by 0.1 day year-on-year, with overnight and same-day visitors staying 1.8 days and 0.2 day respectively. Visitors from Mainland China increased by 2.9% from November 2011 to 1,503,158, coming mostly from Guangdong Province (654,625) and Fujian Province (68,307); Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme increased by 12.8% to 632,640. Visitor arrivals from the Republic of Korea (34,686) increased by 14.2%; however, those coming from Hong Kong (529,911); Taiwan, China (79,884); and Malaysia (34,318) decreased by 10.0%, 11.0% and 3.3% respectively. Long-haul visitors from Europe (28,763) increased by 7.7%, while those from the Americas (29,847) and Oceania (10,359) decreased by 3.0% and 7.3% respectively. In the first eleven months of 2012, visitor arrivals totalled 25,586,441 but the rate of increase narrowed to 0.5% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (15,407,183), the Republic of Korea (400,623) and Japan (369,048) increased by 5.0%, 11.2% and 3.8% respectively, while those from Hong Kong (6,469,327) and Taiwan, China (983,238) decreased by 6.6% and 12.9%.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that Gross National Income (GNI) at current prices amounted to MOP 255.05 billion in 2011, up by 17.4% in real terms. In comparison with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at MOP 295.54 billion, value of GNI was lower than GDP by MOP 40.48 billion, equivalent to 13.7% of GDP. Besides, per-capita GNI (MOP 464,300) was lower than per-capita GDP (MOP 537,993) by MOP 73,693. In 2011, value of both GNI and per-capita GNI were lower than that of GDP and per-capita GDP, implying that the income earned by non-resident investors from Macao was higher than the foreign investment income earned by resident investors from abroad. With rapid growth of the Gaming sector, income earned by non-resident investors from Macao surged by 62.2%; meanwhile, foreign investment income earned by resident investors from abroad also increased by 51.8%. Therefore, the difference between GNI and GDP widened further from MOP 24.41 billion in 2010 to MOP 40.48 billion in 2011. In 2011, GNI increased by 25.9% in nominal terms and 17.4% in real terms year-on-year, lower than the respective GDP growth of 30.2% and 21.9%. GNI is the total income earned by residents of an economy from engaging in various economic activities within or outside the economy, corresponding to GDP plus total inflow of external factor income minus total outflow of external factor income.
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