The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today (30) that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP127.2 billion (USD15.93 billion) at the end of December 2008. The reserves rose by 0.6% from the revised value of MOP126.4 billion (USD15.83 billion) for the previous month.When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP20.9 billion or 19.6%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-December 2008 represented 29 times the currency in circulation or about 239.2% of Pataca M2 at end-November 2008.

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 0.98 points month-to-month but increased by 2.40 points year-on-year to 91.98 in December 2008.