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

The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP137.4 billion (USD17.21 billion) at the end of April 2009. The reserves rose by 2.2% from the revised value of MOP134.3 billion (USD16.83 billion) for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP20.7 billion or 17.7%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-April 2009 represented 31 times the currency in circulation or 247.0% of Pataca M2 at end-March 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 0.68 point month-to-month but rose by 5.59 points year-on-year to 92.58 in April 2009. For enquiry, please contact:Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)