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

The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP134.3 billion (USD16.83 billion) at the end of March 2009. The reserves rose by 2.1% from the revised value of MOP131.6 billion (USD16.48 billion) for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP19.4 billion or 16.9%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-March 2009 represented 29 times the currency in circulation or 241.5% of Pataca M2 at end-February 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, rose slightly by 0.01 point month-to-month and 5.79 points year-on-year to 93.26 in March 2009. For enquiry, please contact: Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)