Uncertainty surrounds Macau’s economic recovery in 2022

Lei Wai Nong has said the number of tourists in Macaus is increasing but uncertainties remain around the potential for an economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Macau.- Lei Wai Nong, Macau’s secretary of economy and finance, has said that the number of tourists and length of stays in Macau have continued to increase in December, but that there are still many uncertainties for the recovery of the local economy in 2022.

Aggregate casino GGR for the first eleven months of the year totals MOP78.90bn (US$9.8bn), up 50 per cent year-on-year from MOP52.62bn in 2020 while the number of tourists increased by 32 per cent to over 6 million. Gross Domestic Product increased by 27.5 per cent in the same period, but economic indicators are still well the pre-pandemic levels, when the city saw nearly 40 million tourists a year.

Lei Wai Nong said: “We currently report some 30,000 visitors per day and if they are staying for longer it will be better for all sectors.”

Analysts at Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings have 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. Authorities had predicted GGR for 2021 could reach MOP130bn (US$16.2bn) but performance is set to reach approximately 60 per cent of that.

Lei Wai Nong said authorities continue to work hard to maintain domestic demand, improve infrastructure and create better job opportunities for the construction industry. Despite the economic downturn, the 2022 public budget of the Macao Special Administrative Region still proposes a number of fiscal reduction and exemption policies, subsidies, and cash payments and to add two new tax exemptions for investment funds.

Preparing next year’s fiscal budget plan, the government of Macau predicted that GGR for 2022 will be MOP130bn (US$16.2bn), half that seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. Authorities forecast that the city will continue to run a fiscal deficit.

Macau expects up to 10 million visitors in 2022

According to the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the city could receive up to 10 million visitors in 2022 if Macau finally resumes the e-visa programme with China and reopens borders with Hong Kong.

Macao Government Tourism Office director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said: “We really hope that by the end of this year, the city will have had over 7 million visits during 2021.”