The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP196.2 billion (USD24.44 billion) at the end of February 2011. The reserves rose by 2.2% from the revised value of MOP192.0 billion (USD23.92 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP46.4 billion or 31.0%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-February 2011 represented 30 times the currency in circulation or 276.2% of Pataca M2 at end-January 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 0.62 points month-to-month and 2.07 points year-on-year to 88.21 in February 2011.

For enquiry, please contact:

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