The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP208.4 billion (USD26.04 billion) at the end of April 2011. The reserves rose by 2.1% from the revised value of MOP204.1 billion (USD25.45 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP51.2 billion or 32.5%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-April 2011 represented 37 times the currency in circulation or 297.1% of Pataca M2 at end-March 2011.

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 0.57 points month-to-month and 3.42 points year-on-year to 87.15 in April 2011.