The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) followed the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to lower the Base Rate of the Discount Window today (1 August 2019) by 25 basis points to 2.50%, which discontinued the local policy-rate upcycle starting from December 2015.
As the pataca is linked to the Hong Kong dollar, the movements of policy rates in Hong Kong and Macao should be basically consistent in order to maintain the effective operation of the linked exchange rate system. As a result, the AMCM followed its Hong Kong counterpart to adjust the Base Rate, after the policy action by the US Federal Reserve to lower the Fed funds rate target range by 25 basis points on 31 July 2019 (US time). The Hong Kong dollar is linked to the US dollar under a similar linked exchange rate system.