Foreign Exchange Reserves and Nominal Effective Exchange Rate Index for the Pataca May 2008

The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP116.4 billion (USD14.48 billion) at the end of May 2008. The reserves decreased by 0.2% from the revised value of MOP116.7 billion (USD14.54 billion) for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP29.8 billion or 34.4%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-May 2008 represented 29 times the currency in circulation or about 227% of Pataca M2 at end-April 2008. 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, rose by 0.26 points month-to-month or fell 4.78 points year-on-year to 87.24 in May 2008.