The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP141.1 billion (USD17.68 billion) at the end of August 2009. The reserves rose by 0.3% from the revised value of MOP140.8 billion (USD17.63 billion) for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP18.8 billion or 15.3%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-August 2009 represented 30 times the currency in circulation or 243.9% of Pataca M2 at end-July 2009. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency’s exchange rates against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners, fell by 0.38 points month-to-month but rose by 2.15 points year-on-year to 90.06 in August 2009.
