Foreign Exchange Reserves and Nominal Effective Exchange Rate Index for the Pataca July 2009

The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP140.8 billion (USD17.63 billion) at the end of July 2009. The reserves fell by 0.8% from the revised value of MOP141.9 billion (USD17.78 billion) for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP20.4 billion or 17.0%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-July 2009 represented 30 times the currency in circulation or 243.4% of Pataca M2 at end-June 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 0.11 points month-to-month but rose by 3.84 points year-on-year to 90.44 in July 2009. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)