The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP215.8 billion (USD26.94 billion) at the end of May 2011. The reserves rose by 3.5% from the revised value of MOP208.4 billion (USD26.04 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP57.5 billion or 36.4%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-May 2011 represented 38 times the currency in circulation or 299.5% of Pataca M2 at end-April 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 0.13 points month-to-month and 4.76 points year-on-year to 87.03 in May 2011.