The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP157.3 billion (USD19.66 billion) at the end of April 2010. The reserves rose by 0.7% from MOP156.2 billion (USD19.53 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP19.9 billion or 14.5%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-April 2010 represented 31 times the currency in circulation or 258.4% of Pataca M2 at end-March 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 0.05 points month-to-month but fell by 2.01 points year-on-year to 90.57 in April 2010.