News

In accordance with the Basic Law, the Third-term Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, has completed the formation of the Executive Council of the Third-term MSAR Government. A press statement released by Mr Chui’s office today listed the members as follows: Ms Florinda Chan;
Mr Leong Heng Teng;
Mr Liu Chak Wan;
Mr Ma Iao Lai;
Mr Leonal Alberto Alves;
Mr Cheang Chi Keong;
Mr Leong Vai Tac;
Mr Chan Meng Kam;
Ms Ho Sut Heng, and
Mr Wong Yue Kai. The first seven are incumbent members of the current Executive Council. They will take the oath of office on 20 December, when an executive order confirming the appointment will be gazetted. The function of the Exeuctive Council is to assist the Chief Executive in policymaking. Mr Chui said he believed that they would serve Macao and fulfil their duties with integrity, according to the statement.
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Starting from October 2009, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released the new series of Consumer Price Index (CPI) rebased to April 2008 – March 2009. The 2008/2009 based Composite CPI (101.15) for October 2009 decreased by 1.10% year-on-year, of which the price index of Education fell substantially by 18.95%; besides, falling prices of LPG, lower rentals for housing and reduced charges for mobile phone services drove the price indices of Housing & Fuels; and Communication down by 3.53% and 2.01% respectively. On the contrary, price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Health increased by 5.49%, 3.35% and 2.92% respectively, attributable to higher charges for medical consultation, dearer prices of women’s clothing and gold jewellery. The CPI-A (101.00) and CPI-B (101.12) for October 2009 decreased by 2.13% and 0.92% year-on-year. The Composite CPI for October 2009 increased by 0.28% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Transport; and Miscellaneous Goods & Services rose by 2.26%, 0.75% and 0.54% respectively on account of dearer prices of new Autumn and Winter clothing, rising prices of private cars and gasoline, as well as higher gold prices. However, price index of Recreation & Culture decreased by 0.32% due to lower charges for outbound package tours. Meanwhile, the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.19% and 0.29% month-to-month. The average Composite CPI for the first ten months of 2009 went up by 1.35% year-on-year. For the 12 months ended October 2009, the average Composite CPI rose by 2.22% over the preceding period. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The new rebased CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP6,000 to MOP18,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP19,000 to MOP34,999
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total exports of goods amounted to MOP583 million in October 2009, down by 49.8% year-on-year, with the value of domestic exports falling by 71.8% to MOP181 million and that of re-exports dropping by 22.6% to MOP402 million. The value of total imports of goods amounted to MOP3.17 billion, down by 11.6% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP2.59 billion was recorded for October 2009. From January to October 2009, total value of merchandise exports fell by 54.7% year-on-year to MOP6.36 billion, of which the value of domestic exports and re-exports declined by 69.7% and 31.7% respectively; meanwhile, total value of merchandise imports slid by 18.5% to MOP29.62 billion. The trade deficit for the first ten months of 2009 widened by 4.2% year-on-year to MOP23.26 billion; the exports/imports ratio went down by 17.1 percentage points to 21.5%. Analyzed by destination of Macao’s exports, in the first ten months of 2009, the value of merchandise exports to the USA, the EU and Mainland China decreased by 79.6%, 59.5% and 45.4% respectively year-on-year. The value of Textile & garment exports declined by 73.1% year-on-year to account for 34.6% of the total exports of goods; meanwhile, the value of Non-textile exports dropped by 29.1%. Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, the value of merchandise imports from Mainland China dropped by 37.1% year-on-year, but that from the EU rose by 5.1%. The value of imports by Broad Economic Category registered year-on-year decrease, of which Raw materials & semi-manufactures and Fuels & lubricants fell by 40.4% and 25.3% respectively; meanwhile, the value of imports of Consumer goods recorded a mild decrease of 5.2%, with that of Food & beverages rising by 17.4%.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released the summary of the GDP for the third quarter of 2009. The rates of change refer to the year-on-year change in real terms, unless otherwise specified. Performance of the gaming and tourism sector showed improvement in the third quarter of 2009, with gross gaming revenue (excluding gratuities) surging by 22.3% year-on-year in nominal terms; decline of total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) tapered significantly from 20.6% in the second quarter to 10.2%; gross fixed capital formation and merchandise exports saw protracted decrease, down substantially by 41.3% and 54.4% respectively. Integrating the respective information, GDP for the third quarter of 2009 expanded by 8.2% in real terms, ending the economic downturn in the previous three quarters. Moreover, GDP for the first quarter, second quarter and first half of the year was revised downward to -12.0%, -15.3% and -13.6% in real terms respectively and GDP growth for 2008 also revised downward to 12.9% in real terms. As regards major GDP components, private consumption expenditure dropped by 1.2% in the third quarter, moderating from the 2.1% decrease in the previous quarter. On account of the shrinking population, household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market fell marginally by 0.1% and that abroad also declined by 0.9%, with the expenditure in Mainland China amounting to MOP 745 million. Government final consumption expenditure increased notably by 17.4%, higher than the 2.1% growth in the second quarter, with compensation of employees, and net purchases of goods and services rising by 6.3% and 55.4% respectively. As a gauge of investment, gross fixed capital formation contracted by 41.3%, slackening further from the 30.3% decrease in the second quarter. Total private investment shrank by 46.1%, with construction and equipment investment decreasing by 54.2% and 14.4% respectively. Total government investment expanded by 89.3%, in which construction investment surged by 145.5%, while that of equipment went down by 5.6%. Integrating data of both sectors, decline of the overall construction investment widened further from 32.4% in the second quarter to 48.5%; however, decrease of equipment investment narrowed from 22.7% in the previous quarter to 13.9%. In terms of visible trade, decline of the total value of merchandise exports tapered off from the second quarter to register decrease of 56.9% in nominal terms or 54.4% in real terms. Analyzed by destination, merchandise exports to the United States, the European Union, Mainland China and Hong Kong decreased by 82.7%, 60.8%, 48.5% and 11.1% respectively in nominal terms. Total merchandise imports also saw smaller decline from the previous quarter to drop by 20.2% in nominal terms or 18.5% in real terms. As regards invisible trade (exports of services), exports of gaming services increased by 22.6%, with decrease of total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) slowing to 10.2% upon the 2.1% fall in visitor arrivals and the 8.6% decrease of their per-capita spending. Integrating the principal data on exports of services, overall exports of services grew by 15.8%, putting an end to the deceleration for three consecutive quarters since the fourth quarter of 2008; meanwhile, decline of imports of services also narrowed noticeably from 22.4% in the second quarter to 7.2%.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, today expressed gratitude to the State Council for its approval of a plan to reclaim 361.65 hectares of land from the sea. A statement released by the Office of the Chief Executive quoted Mr Ho as having said that the approval demonstrated the Central Government’s support to the long-term stability and sustainable development of Macao, as well as the superiority and vitality of the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems.’ The reclaimed land will become the new urban areas of Macao, with many public facilities and green areas. The Government will reserve some of the reclaimed land for public housing and projects that would benefit the diversification of Macao’s economy. The Central Government had requested Macao pay attention to the protection of the environment in the course of reclamation. Mr Ho said the Government would take into consideration the views of the public and experts during the urban planning process for the usage of the land, the statement said. Under the present system, Macao has to apply for permission for reclamation as the Central Government has jurisdiction over the waters surrounding the MSAR.
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Macau Government Tourist Office held “Celebrate Macau!” in Jakarta on November 27, its first roadshow in Indonesia, bringing a “Mini Macau” to Indonesian citizens who came face to face with the world heritage sites of Macau and other iconic attractions. MGTO Marketing Division head Betty Fok joined representative of MGTO in Indonesia, Elly Hutabarat and David Harsamto, to unveil the event held at the Pluit Junction Shopping Center from November 27 to 29. In addition to displays of the UNESCO listed world heritage and tourism products, a series of performances and activities including Portuguese folk dances, short dance courses, street magic shows and games hosted by Indonesian artists and DJ bring a mixture of Macau's Eastern and Western cultures to the city. Viva Macau and six travel agents also set up booths at the roadshow, where MGTO gives out tourism information to the visitors. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Macau SAR, citizens in Indonesia who celebrate their 10th birthday or 10th wedding anniversary on December 20, 2009 will have the opportunity to win round trip tickets to Macau and hotel accommodations. To further expand its market portfolio, MGTO appointed its representative in Indonesia this year to tap this potential market. Statistics showed arrivals from Indonesia to Macau in the first 10 months were close to 150,000 and Indonesia has become one of the top ten source markets of Macau. There are currently 10 flights between Macau and Jakarta every week.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP142.2 billion (USD17.82 billion) at the end of October 2009, virtually unchanged from the revised value for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP18.5 billion or 14.9%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-October 2009 represented 29 times the currency in circulation or 242.4% of Pataca M2 at end-September 2009. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency’s exchange rates against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners, fell by 0.49 points month-to-month and 2.47 points year-on-year to 89.10 in October 2009. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the consumption of Electricity in the third quarter of 2009 reached 1.10 billion kWh upon rising demand during the Summer heat, up by 24.1% quarter-to-quarter and 7.8% year-on-year. The available supply of Electricity went up by 27.8% over the previous quarter, with the imports of Electricity surging substantially by 82.4% to 847 million kWh to account for 72.4% of the available supply. However, local generation of Electricity decreased by 27.6% quarter-to-quarter to 339 million kWh. In the third quarter of 2009, imports of Gasoline rose by 11.8% over the preceding
quarter to 18.86 million litres; the average price of Gasoline imports rose by 10.3% and the respective consumption increased by 9.9% to 18.65 million litres. Imports of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) totalled 7,973 tonnes, down by 7.1%
quarter-to-quarter; the average price of LPG imports went up by 8.6% and the respective consumption decreased by 10.7% to 8,355 tonnes. On account of higher prices of imports, the average selling price of Bottled LPG and Centralized LPG went up by 11.6% and 10.4% respectively from the previous quarter, when that of other fuels rose slightly between 0.9% and 1.3%. Compared with the third quarter of 2008, the average price of all type of fuels registered two-digit decreases. At the end of the third quarter, stock of LPG was 2,214 tonnes, down by 14.5%
quarter-to-quarter, while stock of Gasoline increased by 21.7% to 2.67 million litres.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for August-October 2009 was 3.5%, down further by 0.2 percentage point over the previous period (July-September). Year-on-year, the unemployment rate went up by 0.4 percentage point, moderating from the 0.6 percentage point increase in the previous period. Total labour force was 326,000 in August-October 2009, with number of both the employed and the unemployed decreasing by about 1,000 from the previous period to 315,000 and 11,000 respectively. Among the unemployed, 15.0% (1,700) were fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 2.6 percentage points over the previous period. Analyzed by industry, the unemployment situation improved in Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities and Wholesale & Retail Trade. The labour force participation rate for August-October 2009 (71.7%) fell by 0.3 percentage point from the previous period and 1.2 percentage points year-on-year. The underemployment rate was 1.9%, down by 0.1 percentage point over the preceding period, but up by 0.4 percentage point year-on-year.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the number of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) events held in various venues in Macao totalled 310 in the third quarter of 2009, down by 11% quarter-to-quarter, with 289 meetings & conferences (93% of total) and 21 exhibitions. Total number of participants and attendees soared by 2.8 times from the second quarter to 217,241, on account of a 659% surge of the attendees (192,642) to several large-scale exhibitions in the third quarter. The average duration of the MICE events increased from 1.8 days in the previous quarter to 2.0 days, with an average of 1.9 days for meetings & conferences and 3.5 days for exhibitions. As regards subject of MICE events, the majority focused on Commerce, Trade & Management (122), Tourism & Culture (48) and Education & Training (40). Analyzed by type, most of the events were Corporate Meetings (160) and Association Meetings (54). There were 216 MICE events held in hotels, of which 210 were meetings & conferences and 6 were exhibitions, drawing a total of 23,878 participants and attendees. Participants to meetings & conferences totalled 16,728 (70% of total) and attendees to the 6 exhibitions were 7,150. Meanwhile, 94 MICE events were held in convention & exhibition centres and other conference venues, bringing in 193,363 participants and attendees, of which 15 exhibitions attracted 185,492 attendees. In the first three quarters of 2009, a total of 1,040 MICE events were held in Macao, with an average duration of 2.0 days, attracting 428,528 participants and attendees.
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