Macau: gambling to remain stable besides Hong Kong unrest
Analysts predict the city will remain stable besides situation in Hong Kong.
Macau.- Protests in Hong Kong affected in a way the economic situation in Macau: as we recently informed, tourism has slowed down in the last months of the year. But according to an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) analyst who follows the economy of Macau, the unrest in Hong Kong will not have significant influence in the political and social stability of the city.
Analysts also stated that Macau should focus more in popular gambling industry than in the VIP sector.
“We do not see much impact from the Hong Kong protests in Macao; the political dynamics in both territories are very different, there is a much more local movement in Hong Kong, sustained by the protests, while, on the contrary, this dynamic has not prevailed. So we expect Macau’s relatively high degree of political stability to continue over the next few years”, analyst Nick Marro told Lusa in an interview.
The EIU analyst stated that one of the priorities of the new Macau government would be to try to diversify the economy by focusing more on popular gambling than on high-end gambling, the so-called VIP gambling.
“It is probably an attempt to ensure long-term sustainable growth in this sector,” said the analyst, acknowledging that while Macau is the main destination of the world game, revenues have fallen sharply this year” Marro noted.
“This is due to the slowdown in the expansion of the Chinese economy and the anxiety that the trade war with the United States has generated” in the players, he said, considering that “both factors contributed negatively to the flow of Chinese tourists to Macau. an effect on casinos, and will continue to have in 2020”, added.
“The currency is quite stable, indexed to the Hong Kong dollar, which in turn is pegged to the US dollar, and therefore there is an underlying degree of stability here; we do not expect any changes to this agreement, even with the political turmoil in Hong Kong,” he concluded.
