The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP129.9 billion (USD16.25 billion) at the end of March 2013. The reserves fell by 2.0% from the revised value of MOP132.6 billion (USD16.60 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP1.1 billion or 0.9%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-March 2013 represented 16 times the currency in circulation or 135.2% of Pataca M2 at end-February 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 0.89 points month-to-month and 1.22 points year-on-year to 98.25 in March 2013.

For enquiry, please contact:

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