The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP156.2 billion (USD19.53 billion) at the end of March 2010. The reserves rose by 4.3% from MOP149.8 billion (USD18.73 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP21.8 billion or 16.3%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-March 2010 represented 29 times the currency in circulation or 254.0% of Pataca M2 at end-February 2010.

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, rose by 0.25 points month-to-month but fell by 2.73 points year-on-year to 90.53 in March 2010.