S&P: Macau GGR could return to pre-pandemic levels by 2023

The credit assessment agency Standard & Poors has predicted Macau’s GGR will return to 2019 levels no earlier than 2023.

Macau.- Macau’s Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) won’t return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023, according to analysts at Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings. The credit assessment agency predicted that Macau’s GGR for 2022 will probably be between 60 per cent to 70 per cent of 2019 levels as China’s zero-Covid policy look set to continue.

Mass GGR for 2022 will be between 70 per cent to 80 per cent of 2019 levels while VIP GGR could reach around 40 per cent to 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Aras Poon, an associate director at the rating house, said: “Macau’s GGR was likely to stay weak next two quarters, and pick up more meaningfully from the second half of 2022.”

Authorities in Macau are in talks with mainland China about restarting the electronic version of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) but it seems nothing will change in the short term. The IVS was suspended completely at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and later reintroduced only through in-person applications, which can take up to two weeks to be approved.

For S&P, Macau’s revision of the city’s gaming law will also play a key role in the rebound of Macau’s economy. It believes Macau’s six casino operators will keep their gaming licences but expects authorities will end the sub-concession system.