Macau gaming revenues forecast halved

The government has reduced its 2020 Macau gross gaming forecast by half to 130 billion patacas ($16 billion).

Macau.- Authorities have slashed their predictions for Macau gaming revenues after a poor start to the year.

The government has reduced its 2020 Macau gross gaming forecast by half to 130 billion patacas ($16 billion), compared with the prior estimate of 260 billion patacas. 

The impact of the Coronavirus outbreak, a slowdown in China and the trade war between Beijing and Washington, are all said to be factors in Macau’s poor performance.

Gaming revenues in February decreased by 87.8% to 3.1 billion patacas ($387 million) due to Coronavirus pandemic, which saw all casinos in the country closed for two weeks.

Those casinos have now resumed operations after with 37 casinos and 5,400 casino gaming tables open, representing 80 per cent of total market capacity. 

China continues to limit individual and group visas to the region, while Macau itself has put restrictions on all non-residents who have recently travelled abroad. The government has also enforced body temperature checks at casino entrances.

The local government in Macau is trying to boost spending by giving vouchers worth US$ 375 to citizens.

Analysts said last week that Macau still has six months of breathing room to fight the economic downturn.