Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, speaks to reporters.
The Government has assured the public there would be no cuts in basic services such as social benefits, the Wealth Partaking Scheme and salaries of civil servants, despite a drop in revenue from gaming. But the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, hinted that there could be reduced spending in other services, but the rate of reduction would depend on the revenue. The Chief Executive, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau and his team were closely monitoring the situation, he said. Speaking to reporters on 28 April, Mr Leong said he expected a surplus of 10 billion patacas in the fiscal year 2015 if the monthly gaming revenue reached 20 billion patacas. But if it dropped to an average of 18 billion patacas or less, the Government could experience difficulties in maintaining the budget estimates for this year. But if April’s revenue reached 18.5 billion, it would take the average for the first four months of this year to 20 billion. If this happened, he could not foresee any need to introduce any austerity measure. He said the drop in gaming revenue had affected a number of government departments, but he would not rule out that some autonomous bodies could report surpluses in the fiscal year 2014. The Government should carry out research on balancing the budget proposal for the fiscal year 2015 in view of the current situation. He said the policy is to maintain the level of social welfare and public services, but the Government should look for more opportunities in its investments, and to look at its development plans.