|
Lusa - Business News - Macau: Fitch expects economy to recover 48% this year

Macau, China, March 24,2023(Lusa) - Financial ratings agency Fitch predicted on Friday that Macau's economy would recover 48% this year, with casino revenues reaching half of the pre-pandemic level, thanks to the end of the 'zero covid' policy.
According to official data, Macau's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 26.8% in 2022, mainly due to a 51.4% drop to 42.2 billion patacas (€4.86 billion) in gambling revenue, the Chinese region's dominant industry.
In a statement, Fitch said it believed these revenues would "recover to around half the level of 2019" when they were 292.5 billion patacas (€33.7 billion).
In the first two months of this year, casino revenues in Macau reached 21.9 billion patacas (€2.54 billion), up 55.3% compared with the same period in 2022, and the best start in three years.
Fitch analysts today pointed to the lifting of pandemic control restrictions in mid-December and the resumption of organised tours from mainland China on 6 March.
The agency said visitor numbers are expected to "increase significantly" this year, also thanks to the easing of "obstacles to capacity" to host tourists and the easing of "labour shortages".
Since the start of the pandemic and until the end of January, Macau lost almost 44,700 workers without resident status (11.3% of the working population), according to official data.
The hospitality sector has been the hardest hit, having lost more than 17,600 non-resident employees since December 2019.
Macau's secretary for economy and finance, Lei Wai Nong, acknowledged on 3 February that local hotels have been experiencing staff shortages and said that he would negotiate with tourism-related businesses to "solve the problem the sector is facing".
Despite the economic recovery, Fitch today predicted that the territory would continue to run a budget deficit for the fourth consecutive year, which is expected to fall from 35.5% of GDP in 2022 to 10.5% this year.
Nevertheless, the agency maintained Macau's rating at 'AA', the third highest level, noting that it is the only jurisdiction without any foreign debt and has a financial reserve worth 559.2 billion patacas (€65 billion).
Fitch also said that diversification of Macau's economy beyond casinos "will remain slow" this year due to "labour constraints and skills gaps."
The authorities of the Chinese special administrative region have pointed to economic relations with Portuguese-speaking countries as one of the priorities to reduce dependence on casinos.
VQ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
Agency : LUSA Date : 2023-03-25 12:09:00
|