The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP132.6 billion (USD16.60 billion) at the end of February 2013. The reserves fell by 3.2% from the revised value of MOP137.0 billion (USD17.15 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP5.9 billion or 4.7%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-February 2013 represented 17 times the currency in circulation or 135.8% of Pataca M2 at end-January 2013.

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 0.44 points month-to-month and 0.73 points year-on-year to 97.36 in February 2013.

For enquiry, please contact:

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