Macau cancels third gaming law consultation session
The third scheduled meeting for the public consultation on gaming law amendments has been cancelled due to a typhoon alert.
Macau.- Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) has reported that the third scheduled meeting for the public consultation on gaming laws has been cancelled due to safety reasons after authorities have raised the city’s warning signal to No. 8 due to Typhoon Kompasu.
It’s the third public consultation session to be cancelled. The first session scheduled for September 27 and the second scheduled for October 9 were cancelled due to Covid-19 cases in Macau.
Lei Wai Nong, secretary for economy and finance, has said that the schedule for the consultation would continue for the planned 45 days. It is unknown if the sessions will be rescheduled.
After the gaming law revision is finished, there will be 180 days to write the final report, after which a draft will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly for additional conversation.
According to local media reports, authorities in Macau want to end the current sub-concession system that led to the creation of three additional Macau casino licences.
The government also wants to increase the oversight of gaming concessionaires and junket operations, but it will maintain at least six gaming concessions. Representatives from Macau’s casino operators have attended a public consultation session with authorities and asked for more information on the government’s proposed changes.
Macau GGR for October likely to be down 80%, analysts say
Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd expect Macau’s gross gaming revenue for October will be down 80 per cent when compared to 2019 levels, previous to the Covid-19 pandemic.
They forecast that GGR for 2021 as a whole will be down 69 per cent from pre-pandemic levels but up 51 per cent when compared to 2020 figures.
The decrease was mainly attributed to new local cases of Covid-19 in the city, which had a deep impact on the highly anticipated October Golden Week.
Data from the Public Security Police show that daily average visitors to Macau during the holiday period was down 93.7 per cent compared with last year.
