The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP165.2 billion (USD20.62 billion) at the end of August 2010. The reserves fell slightly by 0.2% from the revised value of MOP165.5 billion (USD20.69 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP24.1 billion or 17.1%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-August 2010 represented 32 times the currency in circulation or 257.5% of Pataca M2 at end-July 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, fell by 0.41 points month-to-month but increased by 0.78 points year-on-year to 90.84 in August 2010.

For enquiry, please contact:

Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)