Macau maintains forecast of US$16.2bn in GGR for 2021
Lei Wai Nong, Macau’s secretary for economy and finance, still expects GGR to reach MOP130bn (US$16.2bn) for 2021 despite lower than expected results in the first half.
Macau.- Lei Wai Nong, Macau’s secretary for economy and finance, has said that the government is sticking to its forecast that casino gross gaming revenue for 2021 will reach MOP130bn (US$16.28bn) – 44.5 per cent of 2019′s MOP292.5bn.
That’s despite the fact that Macau’s GGR during the first half of the year was MOP49bn, nearly 25 per cent less than authorities expected.
When the government made its forecast for the year, it assumed a travel bubble between Macau and Hong Kong would be in place by now, but that’s now not expected until September.
Mainland China continues to be the only country to have a largely quarantine-free travel bubble with Macau.
GGR fell in June after months of improvement, registering a decline of 37 per cent to MOP$6.54bn ($817.3m), down from MOP10.45bn (US$1.31bn) in May.
Macau expects recovery in second half of the year
According to Lei Wai Nong, Macau may see a recovery in the second half of the year thanks to the so-called “golden periods.”
Lei Wai Nong said: “We have summer holidays, the National Day Golden Week [in October], the Grand Prix in November, plus December – traditionally a time when people vacation.”
Sanford C. Bernstein has forecast that Macau’s GGR could reach 89 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and that it will grow more than 11 per cent in 2025.
