Macau approves 2020 budget

The budget for 2020 was approved and the Special Gambling Tax is expected to be 74.5% of the total revenues in Macau.

Macau.- The Macau Legislative Assembly approved on Sunday the budget for 2020, and gambling is set to contribute with the majority of the revenue. The budget balance for 2020, which was approved unanimously, has been set to €2.4 billion.

As reported by Macau Business, the local government wants the Integrated Ordinary Budget revenues to reach €13.6 billion by 2020. That figure would represent a 0.3% rise from the year-end forecast that the Economy and Finance Secretary Lionel Leong had reported before the 2020 budget vote.

The gambling industry is still the most important force for the local economy. The government is likely to collect €10.1 billion in Special Gambling Tax or around 74.5 % of total revenues.

Leong said that gambling tax revenues for 2020 are similar to the ones from this year. “This amount is the result of a calculation based on estimates of gross gambling annual revenues of €29.1 billion,” he said.

Macau VIP gambling decreases

According to two brokerages, the region’s VIP gambling volume dropped 30-32% in the first 10 days of November. Macau VIP gross gambling revenue had already declined by 22.5% year-on-year during the third quarter.

As shown by Sanford C. Bernstein “mass remains robust. It is estimated to have improved by low double-digits of per cent. However, VIP volume is likely to have declined by low 30s of per cent on a year-on-year basis.”

Moreover, Nomura Instinet team said in its own note that “VIP volumes are tracking approximately 30-32% lower versus the same period last year.”

“We estimate that average daily mass revenues were approximately 11-13% higher year-on-year,” analysts Harry Curtis, Daniel Adam and Brian Dobson said.