Macau’s financial reserve stands at US$70.5 billion at the end of 2021

Authorities announced today that Macau Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) financial reserves stood at 643.17 billion patacas (US$70.5 billion) at the end of last year.

The value of the primary reserve was 139.08 billion patacas (US$15.3 billion), and the extraordinary account was 504.09 billion patacas (US$55.3 billion), the Macau Monetary Authority said in a statement.

“In 2021, the financial reserve [MSAR] was managed according to the principle of prudence in the management of investments and recorded a return of 14.74 billion patacas (US$1.6 billion), equivalent to an annual return of 2.3%,” it added.

In the last five years, the average annual profitability of the financial reserve was 3.5 percent, while the average yearly inflation rate was 1.6 percent, the same statement said.

Due to the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy, the MSAR Financial Reserve last year “took a prudent approach to balancing risks and investments,” the statement said.

For 2022, the MSAR predicted that “uncertainties in global financial markets” would continue, leading the financial reserve to maintain “prudent measures” to strengthen revenue in the medium and long term.